Kermadec petrel

Kermadec petrel
Chick and parent, Meyer Island, 1970s
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Procellariiformes
Family:	Procellariidae
Genus:	Pterodroma
Species:	P. neglecta
Binomial name
Pterodroma neglecta (Schlegel, 1863)

The Kermadec petrel (Pterodroma neglecta) is a species of gadfly petrel in the Procellariidae family. It is 38 cm long with a wingspan of 100 cm. It is polymorphic, with light, dark and intermediate morphs known. It eats squid, fish and other marine creatures.

Distribution

It breeds in the Pacific ocean from Lord Howe Island to the Juan Fernández Islands. Rarely is the Kermadec petrel recorded west of Lord Howe Island, where it maintains a small colony of less than 100 individuals on Balls Pyramid. In the past it also bred in some numbers on the main islands, however this is seen as unlikely today. Not much is known of the bird's breeding pattern at Balls Pyramid, however it usually nests there in late summer. This coincides with the breeding patterns of other birds in the Kermadec Islands. The larger of its two subspecies, P. n. juana, also breeds on Round Island, off Mauritius, where it may sometimes hybridise with the Trindade petrel. The species is a vagrant in Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. Reported vagrants in Pennsylvania and North Carolina in the United States and also in the United Kingdom are thought to be dubious.

Breeding

Adult Kermadec petrel

This species is monogamous and raises a single chick each year, which becomes independent after 100–130 days. The Kermadec petrel is unusual for its wide range of breeding times, with different colonies nesting from October to February or from February to March.

External links

• BirdLife species factsheet