Cook's Petrel Pterodroma cookii
Mangawhai Heads, North Island, New Zealand
Culmen: 27.3 mm; Total: 70.3 mm; unsexed adult
Procellariidae
The group of the gadfly petrels counts over 35 species, mainly from the southern hemisphere. There are three genera: Pterodroma with about 30 species, Pseudobulweria counting four and Lugensa with only one. Many authors have tried to classify the large number of species of this group and to determine their relationships. This has resulted in a division in several subgenera and the grouping of several species which are considered to have a more or less close relationship. The taxonomic discussion has not come to an end yet: new species have been added or split recently and probably will be in the near future.
The Gadfly Petrels vary in size from rather small birds such as the Cookilaria species, measuring about 26 cm, to the much larger and robust representatives of this group like the White-headed Petrel with an overall length of about 43 cm. Their plumages also vary a great deal from species to species; from completely black to light grey mantles and pure white bellies, and with different color phases within species. One feature shared by all of them is the black bill of which the shape also shows much variation. Some species are extremely rare and restricted to a very limited area, other are abundant and wander widely or have unknown pelagic ranges.
The skulls of the Gadfly Petrels have the lachrymal bones fused to the frontals. A feature shared with the fulmarine petrels, the prions and the Blue Petrel. Only in young birds this fusion might not be completed. In most species the bill is rather stubby, but some - such as The Cook's Petrel - have pretty slender bills. The bill and cranial structure of this group has been studied intensively. More about this.
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Cook's Petrel Pterodroma cookii Mangawhai Heads, North Island, New Zealand Culmen: 27.3 mm; Total: 70.3 mm; unsexed adult |
Cook's Petrel Pterodroma cookii, Pacific Ocean, breeds off New Zealand and western South America.
Pycroft's Petrel Pterodroma pycrofti, breeds off northern New Zealand moving into tropical Pacific.
Gould's Petrel Pterodroma leucoptera, South Pacific. Two subspecies:
P. l. leucoptera, breeding Cabbage Tree I.
P. l. caledonica, breeding New Caledonica
Collared or White-throated Petrel Pterodroma brevipes, split from P. leucoptera, South Pacific, breeding Fiji group.
De Filippi's or Mas a Tierra Petrel Pterodroma defilippiana
Stejneger's Petrel Pterodroma longirostris
Phoenix Petrel Pterodroma alba, central tropical Pacific, breeding Phoenix, Line, Marquesas Is., Tonga and Pitcairn Is.
Trinidade or South Trinidad Petrel Pterodroma arminjoniana, breeding Trinidade I., Martin Vas Rocks, Round I. near Mauritius.
Herald Petrel Pterodroma heraldica, breeding many islands in southern Pacific.
Henderson Petrel Pterodroma atrata; recent split from P. arminjoniana. Pacific Ocean, breeding Pitcairn I.
Galapagos Petrel Pterodroma phaeopygia, Pacific Ocean, breeding Galapagos Archipelago.
Hawaiian Petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis, central Pacific, breeding Hawaiian chain.
Kermadec Petrel Pterodroma neglecta, southern Pacific. Two subspecies:
P. n. neglecta, breeding Lord Howe, Kermadec, Austral and Pitcairn Is., Easter I.
P. n. juana, breeding San Ambrosio and San Felix Is., Mas a Tierra and Santa Clara Is.
Juan Fernandez Petrel Pterodroma externa, tropical Pacific Ocean, breeding Mas Afuera and Juan Fernandez Is.
Barau's Petrel Pterodroma baraui, tropical and subtropical Indian Ocean, breeding Reunion and Rodriguez.
Murphy's Petrel Pterodroma ultima, central South Pacific, breeding Austral, Tuamotu, Pitcairn, Rapa, Oeno Is.
Providence or Solander's Petrel Pterodroma solandri, western tropical Pacific, breeds off eastern Australia.
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Great-winged or Grey-faced Petrel Pterodroma macroptera ssp. gouldi Mangawhai Heads, North Island, New Zealand Culmen: 36.7 mm; Total: 89.6 mm; unsexed immature. |
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Unknown Pterodroma sp. Probably an old male P. lessonii Location unknown Total: 95.5 mm |
Great-winged or Grey-faced Petrel Pterodroma macroptera, almost circumpolar in southern oceans.
P. m. macroptera, breeds Tristan da Cunha, Gough, Crozet, Marion, Pr. Edward, Amsterdam, Kerguelen Is. and some islands off Australia.
P. m. gouldi, breeds off New Zealand
Taiko or Magenta Petrel Pterodroma magentae, Pacific Ocean, very rare, breeding Chatham Is.
White-headed Petrel Pterodroma lessonii, circumpolar southern oceans.
Atlantic or Schlegel's Petrel Pterodroma incerta, temperate southern Atlantic Ocean.
Black-capped Petrel Pterodroma hasitata, Caribbean Sea and western tropical Atlantic. Two subspecies:
P. h. hasitata, breeding Haiti, Dominican Republic and Dominica.
Jamaican Petrel P. h. caribbea, breeding Jamaica, but probably extinct.
Bermuda Petrel or Cahow Pterodroma cahow, around Bermuda Is., recently recorded on Azores.
Subgenus Pterodroma Mollis group
Soft-plumaged Petrel Pterodroma mollis, two subspecies:
P. m. mollis, Atlantic Ocean, breeding Tristan de Cunha group and Gough I.
P. m. dubia, Indian Ocean, breeding Prince Edward, Crozet en Kerguelen Is.
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Soft-plumaged Petrel Pterodroma mollis ssp. mollis Gough Island 1) Culmen: 28,6 mm; total 76.3 mm; unsexed adult |
Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae, subtropical North Atlantic Ocean, breeding Cape Verde and Deserta Is.
Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira, North Atlantic Ocean, very rare, breeding Madeira.
Chatham Island Petrel Pterodroma axillaris, around Chatham Is. Possibly moving eastward in southern Pacific.
Black-winged Petrel Pterodroma nigripennis
White-necked Petrel Pterodroma cervicalis. Tropical Pacific Ocean. Two subspecies:
White-necked Petrel P. c. cervicalis. Kermadec Is, Norfolk Is.
Vanuatu or Falla's Petrel P. c. occulta. Vanuatu
Mottled, Scaled or Peale's Petrel Pterodroma inexpectata, Pacific Ocean, breeding New Zealand area.
Bonin Petrel Pterodroma hypoleuca, northwestern Pacific, breeds Bonin and Izu is.
Genus Pseudobulweria
This group differs from the other Pterodroma petrels by having latericorns forming a notch with the upper nail of the bill and more laterally compressed bill. More about this.
Mascarene or Reunion Petrel Pseudobulweria aterrima, very rare, collected at Reunion, distribution unknown.
Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata, tropical Pacific Ocean, Two subspecies:
P. r. rostrata, breeding Society and Marquesas Is.
P. r. trouessarti, breeding New Caledonia
Beck's Petrel Pseudobulweria becki, western Pacific, only two specimens known. Split from P. rostrata
Fiji Petrel Pseudobulweria macgillivarayi, very rare in Pacific around Fiji Is.
1) Courtesey of B. Zonfrillo, Univ. of Glasgow