PELAGIC SPECIES SEEN OFF THE CAPE COAST

This is seasonal table for all regularly occuring species off the Cape, based on over 300 pelagic seabird trips over the last 10 years. It was compiled by Callan Cohen, Claire Spottiswoode and Barrie Rose, and was first published in the book Essential Birding - Western South Africa (Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 2000).

Colour codes refer to the percentage chance of encountering each species:

Key to colour codes

  
 
5-25%
  
50-75%
 
25-50%
  
75-100%

SPECIES J F M A M J J A S O N D
Northern Royal Albatross                        
Wandering Albatross                        
Shy Albatross                        
Black-browed Albatross                        
Grey-headed Albatross                        
Yellow-nosed Albatross (total)                        
sub-sp. chlororhynchus                        
sub-sp. bassi                        
Southern Giant Petrel                        
Northern Giant Petrel                        
Antarctic Fulmar                        
Pintado Petrel                        
Great-winged Petrel                        
Soft-plumaged Petrel                        
Antarctic Prion                        
White-chinned Petrel                        
Spectacled Petrel                        
Cory's Shearwater                        
Great Shearwater                        
Flesh-footed Shearwater                        
Sooty Shearwater                        
Manx Shearwater                        
European Storm Petrel                        
Leach's Storm Petrel                        
Wilson's Storm Petrel                        
Black-bellied Storm Petrel                        
Cape Gannet                        
Arctic Skua                        
Long-tailed Skua                        
Pomarine Skua                        
Subantarctic Skua                        
Sabine's Gull                        
Arctic Tern                        
ADDITIONAL SPECIES
Grey Phalarope   X X                  
Slenderbilled Prion         X X X          
Little Shearwater         X X X          
Grey Petrel             X       X