The Kermadec petrel (''Pterodroma neglecta'') is a species of

gadfly petrel 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 (horse-fly, horseflies). The flight ...

in the family

Procellariidae The family (biology), family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prion (bird), prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order (biology), orde ...

. It is 38 cm long with a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

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 The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

from

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

to the

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands () are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe Island, R ...

. 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 Ball's Pyramid is an uninhabited islet in the Pacific Ocean located southeast of Lord Howe Island, between Australia and New Zealand. The steep rocky basalt outcrop is the eroded plug of a shield volcano and caldera that formed 6.4million yea ...

. In the past it also bred in some numbers on the main islands, however, this is seen as unlikely today. The Kermadec Islands are the only place in New Zealand where this species breeds, including on the following islands of the archipelago: Nugent, Napier, Meyer, Dayrell, North Chanter, Macauley, Haszard and Cheeseman Islands. Due to predation by cats and rats, it no longer breeds on Raoul Island, where in 1908 it had an estimated population of c. 500,000 individuals. 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 Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, where it may sometimes hybridise with the

Trindade petrel The Trindade petrel (''Pterodroma arminjoniana''), also known as the Round island petrel, is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. The bird is in size, with an wingspan. The petrel has various color morphs: dark and light, ...

. The species is a

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Reported vagrants in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the United States and also in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

are thought to be dubious.

Breeding

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. The size of the Australian population of ''Pterodroma neglecta neglecta'' (Schlegel, 1863) remains low, partly due to ongoing predation of eggs and chicks by Purple Swamphens ''Porphyrio porphyrio'' on Phillip Island.

References

External links

BirdLife species factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1259828 Kermadec petrel Birds of the Kermadec Islands Birds of Lord Howe Island Kermadec petrel Taxonomy articles created by Polbot