1997 Ross Dependency - Antarctic Sea Birds

Single 40c 'Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea)' gummed stamps.

Creamy white plummage and shiny coal-black dark eyes, make the snow petrel one of the most beautiful and distinctive of Antarctic sea birds. They normally live on the pack ice zone around the continent, and can often be seen resting on ice floes or grouped together on top of icebergs. Their diet consists mainly of krill and small fish that they catch while still on the wing.

Single 80c 'Cape Petrel (Daption capensis)' gummed stamp.

With its sooty-black head and chequered wing plumage, the cape petrel or cape pigeon as it is more commonly known, is among the most easily identified Antarctic sea birds. This is one of the larger species of sea birds that inhabit the open sub-Antarctic and Antarctic oceans. Cape Petrels often gather in noisy large flocks to feed at sea on fish, krill and squid. 

Single $1.00 'Antarctic Prion (Pachyptila desolata)' gummed stamp.

The slender and finely marked Antarctic prion is a small bird of the region with a characteristic black "M" marking across its wings and lower back. Their underside is completely white. They are often seen in vast flocks flying extremely quickly and low over the wave tops. They breed in vast flocks between December and March and will migrate to warmer waters during winter.

Single $1.20 'Antarctic Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides)' gummed stamp.

The largest of the sea birds featured in this set of stamps, the Antarctic or southern fulmar is a graceful and powerful flier. Antarctic fulmars surface feed or make occasional shallow dives to seize krill, squid or fish. To defend their nest sites, they squirt the liquid contents of their stomachs at intruders.

Single $1.50 'Antactic Petrel (Thalassoica antarctica)' gummed stamp.

Slightly larger than the pigeon-sized cape petrel, the Antarctic petrel is perhaps the most numerous of the petrel species. The birds are found near the coast in vast breeding colonies of up to half a million breeding pairs. Both male and female have the same distinctive plumage - a chocolate brown head, neck and back, with a white bar on the flight feathers. 

Single $1.80 'Antarctic Tern (Sterna vittata)' gummed stamp.

A bright red bill and legs, angular wings and a forked tail make this gregarious species one of the most unusual Antarctic sea birds. A remarkable flier, the Antarctic tern is often sighted as far north as South America and South Africa. Antarctic terns live on fish and krill that they catch on the surface or by diving into the ocean.