Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00287:reg:3:p170
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00287
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 3 (pt 170/276)
Character Range: 636576–639524

Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra.

Pterodroma nigripennis—black-winged petrel

Conservation significance
EPBC Act Listing Status: Marine
Non-statutory Listing Status: Listed as Vulnerable under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW).
Non-statutory Listing Status: Described as least concern in the Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010 (Garnett et al. 2011).

Distribution
The black-winged petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis) species has a wide oceanic range in the Tasman Sea and in the subtropical and tropical regions of the Central Pacific Ocean. It breeds on Lord Howe Island, the Norfolk Island Group, Kermadec Island Group, Three Kings Group, the Chatham Islands and the Austral Group. In the Norfolk Island Group, it is an uncommon breeding summer migrant that is present from late November to early March, primarily breeding on Phillip Island (Schodde et al. 1983). The species has attempted to breed on Norfolk Island, but mortality has been high probably due to predation from feral cats and rats (Schodde et al. 1983). Between 1978-79, there were between 50 and 100 pairs breeding on Phillip Island (Tarburten 1981); in 1985, several hundred birds (Hermes et al. 1986); in 2006, 1000-10,000 pairs (Priddel et al. 2010); and in 2017–18, 18,000 pairs (Carlile & O'Dwyer 2018).

Ecology
A summer breeder. A single egg is laid and incubated for 45 days, with fledging occurring after an additional 85 days. Recent breeding success increased from 47% in 2017 to 64% in 2021, an increase likely due to the control of purple swamphen numbers on Phillip Island since 2019 (O'Dwyer et al. 2023). Excavates burrows under rocks or vegetation to nest, in upper valleys and shallow soil under cliff faces.
Foraging: feeds on small fish, squid and crustaceans, which are captured by surface seizing and dipping (Halpin et al. 2022). Not known to frequent at-sea areas of high plastic concentrations in breeding or non-breeding periods (Clarke et al. 2023).

Habitat
Migratory and highly pelagic; migrates to the Central Pacific when not breeding.

Threats
The main threats to the black-winged petrel are the reduction in the quality of foraging areas through climate related shifts in oceanic resources, and predation from rats and cats on Norfolk Island. On Phillip Island, other threats include predation of nests by purple swamphens and the degradation and loss of breeding habitat. The Phillip Island centipede (Cormocephalus coynei) is known to reduce fledgling numbers annually (Halpin et al. 2021) but is unlikely to be impacting recruitment into the population.

Impact on other species
None known.

Management actions
Continue control of swamphens on Phillip Island. Protect and enhance nesting areas through revegetation efforts on Phillip Island. Retain status of pest-free Phillip Island through detection monitoring for introduced vertebrates and invertebrates. Protect potential nesting sites on Norfolk Island from feral cats and