Herald petrel

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Herald petrel
OestrelataHeraldica.jpg
Plate 67 from Godman's 'Monograph of the Petrels.'
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Pterodroma
Species:
P. heraldica
Binomial name
Pterodroma heraldica
(Salvin, 1888)

The Herald petrel (Pterodroma heraldica) is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. Its range includes the south Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.

Contents

Description

The bird is 35–39 cm (14–15 in) in size, with an 88–102 cm (35–40 in) wingspan. It was formerly considered conspecific with the Trindade petrel and Henderson petrel.

This petrel has various colour morphs: dark and light, as well as intermediates between the two.

Habitat and range

The Herald petrel nests on oceanic islands and atolls, on cliff ledges, ridges or rocky slopes. On some islands, nesting birds are threatened by feral cats and rats.

Found primarily in the south Pacific, it has been seen in Hawaii. In May 2007, a Herald petrel tagged on Raine Island in 1984 was observed off the coast of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. This greatly increases the known life span and range of the species. [2] In 2009 it was identified as this species, from what was previously an unidentified Pterodroma species, to be breeding on Round Island, 22 km (14 mi) north of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. [3]

In August 2017, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services (QPWS) staff confirmed a Herald petrel chick had hatched on Raine Island after sighting an adult Herald petrel taking care of a single egg in a nest in June 2017. The sighted chick was the first time a Herald petrel was seen to breed in 30 years. Raine Island is the only known Herald petrel breeding site in Australia. [4]

Conservation status

This species is evaluated as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [5]

It is listed as critically endangered under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), effective July 2002, and under the Queensland Government's Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 (November 2021 list). While there was previously a recovery plan in effect for the species from 2005 to 2015, as it has a high level of protection from government agencies, with relatively few, well-managed threats on the Raine Island population, there is no recovery plan operational as of July 2022. [5]

A 2018 study ranked the species ninth in a list of Australian birds most likely to go extinct. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procellariiformes</span> Order of birds

Procellariiformes is an order of seabirds that comprises four families: the albatrosses, the petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels. Formerly called Tubinares and still called tubenoses in English, procellariiforms are often referred to collectively as the petrels, a term that has been applied to all members of the order, or more commonly all the families except the albatrosses. They are almost exclusively pelagic, and have a cosmopolitan distribution across the world's oceans, with the highest diversity being around New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadfly petrel</span> Genus of birds

The gadfly petrels or Pterodroma are a genus of about 35 species of petrels, part of the seabird order Procellariiformes. The gadfly petrels are named for their speedy weaving flight, as if evading gadflies (horseflies). The flight action is also reflected in the name Pterodroma, from Ancient Greek pteron, "wing" and dromos, "runner".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procellariidae</span> Family of seabirds which includes petrels, shearweters and prions

The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order Procellariiformes, which also includes the albatrosses and the storm petrels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zino's petrel</span> Small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus

Zino's petrel or the freira, is a species of small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, endemic to the island of Madeira. This long-winged petrel has a grey back and wings, with a dark "W" marking across the wings, and a grey upper tail. The undersides of the wings are blackish apart from a triangle of white at the front edge near the body, and the belly is white with grey flanks. It is very similar in appearance to the slightly larger Fea's petrel, and separating these two Macaronesian species at sea is very challenging. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the soft-plumaged petrel, P. mollis, but they are not closely related, and Zino's was raised to the status of a species because of differences in morphology, calls, breeding behaviour and mitochondrial DNA. It is one of Europe's most endangered seabirds, with breeding areas restricted to a few ledges high in the central mountains of Madeira.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-capped petrel</span> Species of bird

The black-capped petrel, also known as the diablotín, is a small seabird native to the West Indies in the genus Pterodroma. It is a long-winged petrel with a grey-brown back and wings, with a white nape and rump. Underparts are mainly white apart from a black cap and some dark underwing markings. It picks food items such as squid from the ocean surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magenta petrel</span> Species of bird

The magenta petrel, or Chatham Island tāiko, is a small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, Pterodroma. Found exclusively on Chatham Island, New Zealand, it is one of the rarest birds in the world, believed to be extinct for over 100 years before its rediscovery in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galápagos petrel</span> Species of bird

The Galápagos petrel is one of the six endemic seabirds of the Galápagos. Its scientific name derives from Ancient Greek: Pterodroma originates from pteron and dromos, meaning "wing" and "runner", and phaeopygia comes from phaios and pugios, meaning "dusky" and "rump". Members of Pterodroma genus are also called the gadfly petrels because their erratic twisting and turning in flight resemble that of gadflies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barau's petrel</span> Species of bird

Barau's petrel is a medium-sized gadfly petrel from the family Procellariidae. Its main breeding site is the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerguelen petrel</span> Species of bird

The Kerguelen petrel is a small slate-grey seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Aphrodroma. It is a pelagic, circumpolar seabird of the Southern Ocean. It breeds on islands in the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic petrel</span> Species of bird

The Atlantic petrel is a gadfly petrel endemic to the South Atlantic Ocean. It breeds in enormous colonies on Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island, and ranges at sea from Brazil to Namibia, with most records at sea being to the west of the breeding islands, and along the subtropical convergence. Adults are about 43 cm long, powerful, large, stocky, dark in color with white belly. Their head can appear to be grey in worn plumage. Brown undercoating of wings and tail. These petrels can live on average of 15 years of age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trindade petrel</span> Species of bird

The Trindade petrel is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. The bird is 35–39 cm (14–15 in) in size, with an 88–102 cm (35–40 in) wingspan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murphy's petrel</span> Species of bird

Murphy's petrel is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. The bird is 15 inches in length, with a 35-inch wingspan and weigh about 13 ounces. It does not exhibit sexual dimorphism. It was described by Robert Cushman Murphy in 1949, which is the source of the species' common name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mottled petrel</span> Species of bird

The mottled petrel or kōrure is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. It usually attains 33 to 35 cm (13–14 in) in length with a 74 to 82 cm (29–32 in) wingspan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cook's petrel</span> Species of bird

Cook's petrel, or the tītī or blue-footed petrel, is a Procellariform seabird. It is a member of the gadfly petrels and part of the subgenus Cookilaria Bonaparte, 1856, which includes the very similar Stejneger's petrel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stejneger's petrel</span> Species of bird

Stejneger's petrel is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. The bird is 26–31 cm in size, with a 53–66 cm wingspan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tahiti petrel</span> Species of bird

The Tahiti petrel is a medium-sized, dark brown and white seabird found across the Pacific Ocean. The species comprises two subspecies: P. r. rostrata which breeds in the west-central Pacific Ocean, and P. r. trouessarti which breeds in the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean. The Tahiti petrel belongs to the Procellariidae family and is the most studied member of the Pseudobulweria genus which comprises three critically endangered species. Similarly, the Tahiti petrel is considered near threatened by the 2018 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Threats include introduced rats, feral cats, pigs, dogs, nickel mining, and light pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henderson petrel</span> Species of bird

The Henderson petrel is a ground-nesting species of gadfly petrel in the family Procellariidae. Adults measure on average 37 cm. It has a uniform grey-brown plumage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Fernández petrel</span> Species of bird

The Juan Fernández petrel is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. It nests on a single island off the coast of Chile, in the Juan Fernández Archipelago. It was previously classified as a subspecies of the white-necked petrel, which is found in tropical waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gould's petrel</span> Species of bird

Gould's petrel is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. The common name commemorates the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould (1804–1881).

References

  1. BirdLife International (2018). "Pterodroma heraldica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22698012A132619211. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698012A132619211.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. James, David.J; McAllan, Ian A.W. (2014). "The birds of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: A review" (PDF). Australian Field Ornithology. 31 (supplement): S46–S47. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  3. Brown, R. M.; Jordan, W. C. (2009). "Characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci from Round Island Petrels (Pterodroma arminjoniana) and their utility in other seabird species". Journal of Ornithology. 150 (4): 925–929. doi:10.1007/s10336-009-0411-5. S2CID   26133587.
  4. "Endangered seabird discovery on Raine Island breaks 30 year record". The Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial Directory. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Pterodroma heraldica – Herald Petrel". Species Profile and Threats Database . Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Government . Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  6. Geyle, Hayley M.; Woinarski, John C. Z.; et al. (20 April 2018). "Quantifying extinction risk and forecasting the number of impending Australian bird and mammal extinctions". Pacific Conservation Biology . 24 (2): 157–167. doi: 10.1071/PC18006 . hdl: 10536/DRO/DU:30109156 . ISSN   2204-4604 . Retrieved 11 July 2022. PDF