Archived News

The Australasian Seabird Group, the oldest of BirdLife Australia's Special Interest Groups, was formed in 1971.

The group's objectives are to promote seabird research and conservation in Australasia. These are pursued these through a range of activities, including publication of a bulletin and other seabird material, organisation of symposia of issues affecting seabirds, provision of expert opinion on the management and conservation of seabird populations in Australasia, and the coordination of projects including surveys of seabird islands and beach patrol projects.

Prior to 1993 the Australasian Seabird Group Bulletin was published in paper form with No. 1 in 1973 and ending with No. 51 of December 2010.  Since 2010 the ASG has published its bulletin as an e-newsletter.  The ASG Bulletin contains long articles and short notes relevant to seabirds in the Australasian region, behavioural observations, reviews, abstracts of recent theses and news of seabirds from around the World.  The current Editor is André Chiaradia of the Phillip Island Nature Parks in Victoria, Australia.

Shy Albatrosses breed only on Australian islands around Tasmania
Photograph by Aleks Terauds

The latest issue of the ASG Bulletin (No. 55 of June 2012) carries articles on the Rena oil spill in New Zealand by Susan Waugh, on the Critically Endangered Beck's Petrel Pseudobulweria becki by BirdLife International and abstracts of three theses on seabirds, including an MSc by Kat Manno (Department of Zoology, University of Otago, New Zealand) on environmental influences on beeding success of the Fairy Prion Pachyptila turtur.

Membership of the ASG is open to anyone interested in the conservation and research of seabirds in the Australasian and Antarctic regions and adjacent oceans. Membership includes receipt of the ASG Bulletin.  Click here for more information.

See also http://www.birdlife.org.au/locations/australasian-seabird-group

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 7 September 2012