Herald Petrel

Pterodroma arminjoniana

A slender, long-winged seabird with a pointed tail. Soars on the slightest breezes. Although it can resemble the Black-capped Petrel, it lacks the white collar and rump, and the underwing is overall much darker, with only the base of the flight feathers white. A dark brown morph also occurs (see photo below), but that form still retains the white base to the flight feathers on the underside. Length: 35-39 cm.; weight: 318 g. Nests on islands off Brazil and occasionally disperses over deeper waters north to North Carolina from May to September. Accidental in Puerto Rico (one bird near Culebra, July 12, 1986 (American Birds 42:1254-1258)). The related Fea's Petrel (also called Cape Verde Petrel, Pterodroma feae) is a rare visitor to deep water off North Carolina and breeds on the Cape Verde and Madeira Islands. It may show up in the Caribbean eventually. Compared to the Herald Petrel, it has a lighter gray color on the back of the neck, and a distinct, black face patch.

TAXONOMY: PROCELLARIIFORMES; PROCELLARIIDAE. Formerly called South Trinidad Petrel. Taxonomists may split the population found in the Atlantic (photo below) from the population found in the Pacific (photo above).

References

Brinkley, ES. and J. B. Patteson. 1998. Gadfly Petrels in the western North Atlantic. Birding World 11(9):341-354.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1992. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 1, Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Dubois, P. and R. Seitre. 1997. Herald Petrel new to the Western Palearctic. Birding World 10:456-459.

Gochfeld, M., J. Burger, J. Saliva and D. Gochfeld. 1988. Herald Petrel new to the West Indies. American Birds 42(5):1254-1258.

Harrison, P. 1983. Seabirds: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Harrison, P. 1987. A field guide to seabirds of the world. Stephen Greene Press, Lexington, MA.

Lee, D. S. 1979. Second record of the South Trinidad Petrel (Pterodroma arminjoniana) for North America. American Birds 33:138-139.

Lee, D. S. 2000. Color morph bias and conservation concerns for a tropical Pterodroma. Chat 64(1):15-20.

Herald Petrel, Spanish text

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