Mutton birds return from Alaska
When: Sep - Oct
Where: Bass Strait and south-east coast
The short tail shearwater (mutton bird) migrates from Tasmania to the Northern Hemisphere for the northern summer. Departing for Alaska in April-May, the birds return to their burrows in Tasmania in spring.
This is one of the few Australian native birds in which the chicks are commercially harvested for food and oil.
Image: Flock of mutton birds / Credit: Marlene Lyell, courtesy Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service