Macronectes halli
Silhouette: Alexandre Vong · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The northern giant petrel (Macronectes halli), also known as Hall's giant petrel, is a large, predatory seabird of the southern oceans. Its range overlaps broadly with the range of the related southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus), albeit slightly further to the north.
The northern giant petrel was formally described in 1912 by the Australian born ornithologist Gregory Mathews as a subspecies of the southern giant petrel with the trinomial name Macronectes giganteus halli. The specific epithet halli was chosen to honour the Australian ornithologist Robert Hall who had described the birds breeding on the Kerguelen Islands. The northern giant petrel is now considered to be a separate species and has the binomial name Macronectes halli. It is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek makros meaning "great" and nēktēs meaning "swimmer". The name "petrel" refers to the Biblical account of Saint Peter walking on water, referring to the way these birds run on top of the water as they are getting airborne.
The two giant petrel species make up the genus Macronectes. They belong to the order Procellariiformes, the tube-nosed seabirds... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Península Valdés | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 3 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 5 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 2 | Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willowbank Wildlife Reserve | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Giant Petrel sighting in Península Valdés on a given day, based on 114 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 38th most-seen of the 96 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Giant Petrel in Península Valdés on a given day, against about 10% in January and March, the lowest months. June and July have too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Giant Petrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Northern Giant Petrel sightings, Península Valdés has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Rakiura National Park (New Zealand, under 5%) and Tierra del Fuego National Park (Argentina, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Giant Petrel is recorded against all the birds logged in Península Valdés (114 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
