Albatross and petrel flight heights

This repository provides the first large-scale, empirical data on flight heights and movements for the majority of Southern Hemisphere albatrosses and both giant-petrel species. These data are critical inputs to offshore wind farm bird collision risk modelling and also improve understanding of albatross and petrel flight behaviour and ecology. The project was delivered by Monash University (Mark Miller, Sara Petrovic and Rohan Clarke) in collaboration with Marine Conservation Program, Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (Sheryl Hamilton, Sam Thalmann and Kris Carlyon) and Department of Conservation, New Zealand (Johannes Fischer and Oliva Rowley). For further information contact [e-mail] Two datasets are provided: 1) a biologger tracking dataset providing flight heights, speeds and spatial locations for fourteen species of albatrosses and two giant-petrel species tagged on seabird breeding islands in Australia and New Zealand and at-sea off Victoria, Australia; and 2) a dataset of boat-based visual observations of Procellariiform seabirds (albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters and storm-petrels) flight heights from Victoria, Australia. The Biologger dataset consists of data returned from 171 biologger devices attached to birds between September 2025 and July 2026. Data fields include: species name [Species], deployment type (either from boat or from colony) [Type], deployment location name [Location], unique biologger tag identifier [Tag_ID], unique data burst identifier [Burst_ID], date and time of data collection in UTC format [UTC_timestamp], longitude in decimal degrees (wgs84) [Longitude], latitude in decimal degrees (wgs84) [Latitude], air pressure in pascals [Pressure_pa], air temperature in degrees Celsius [Temperature_degC], GPS altitude in metres [GPSaltitude_m] and instantaneous GPS groundspeed in kilometres per hour [Speed_kmh]. For detailed methods on data collection and bird metadata see Miller et al. (2026). The boat-based observation dataset consists of visual observations of Procellariiform flight heights made from boats in Lakes Entrance and Portland regions of Victoria, Australia between September 2025 and February 2026. Data fields include: a regional identifier [Region], species name [Species], date and time of observation in UTC format [DateTime_UTC], observation latitude in decimal degrees (wgs84) [Latitude], observation longitude in decimal degrees (wgs84) [Longitude], height above sea level of observed bird (metres) [Flight_height_m], right-angle distance of bird from the transect line in metres [Distance_to_boat_m], number of individuals observed [N_individuals] and additional observation notes [Notes]. For detailed methods on data collection see DCCEEW (2026). DCCEEW (2026) Best practice survey guidelines and data standards for seabird data for offshore wind farm development, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Canberra, May. CC BY 4.0. Miller MGR., Petrovic S, Pattison N, Hamilton S, Thalmann S, Carlyon K, Simpson E, Fischer JH, Rowley O and Clarke RH (2026) Albatross and Petrel Research Findings to Support Offshore Wind Farm Planning and Assessment. Prepared for the National Environmental Protection Agency. Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.