A large, common species which breeds all year round in huge colonies in inland Australia and Tasmania, dependent on water conditions.
It will be seen on almost any trip to Oz as it frequently soars and after breeding disperses to coastal areas and permanent wetlands all over Australia, sometimes to Indonesia and New Guinea.
Vagrancy has been recorded to New Zealand, Fiji and Christmas Island. It is an opportunistic feeder and will take amphibians, ducks and small mammals, in addition to stealing prey
from Cormorants.
Taken Cairns November 2019
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