The Australasian gannet (Morus serrator) is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family, Sulidae. Adults are mostly white, with black flight feathers at the wingtips and the trailing edge of the wing. The central tail feathers are also black. The head is tinged with buff-yellow, with a pale blue-grey bill edged in black, and blue-rimmed eyes. Young birds have mottled plumage in their first year, dark above and light below, gradually acquiring more white until they reach maturity after five years. The species ranges over water above the continental shelf along the southern and eastern Australian coastline, as well as the North and South Islands of New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. Nesting takes place in colonies along the coastlines of New Zealand, Victoria and Tasmania. The birds plunge into the ocean at high speed, catching mainly squid and forage fish. The species faces few natural or man-made threats.
