Bulwer's petrel
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Bulwer's petrel (Bulweria bulwerii) is a small petrel in the family Procellariidae that is found in tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is named after the English naturalist James Bulwer.
TaxonomyEdit
Bulwer's petrel was formally described in 1828 by the naturalists Jardine and Selby who coined the binomial name Procellaria bulwerii. The specific epithet was chosen to acknowledge the artist and naturalist James Bulwer who had collected the type specimen on the island of Madeira.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Bulwer's petrel is now placed in the genus Bulweria that was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.<ref>Template:Cite journal The volume is dated 1842 but the article was not published until 1843.</ref><ref name=ioc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<ref name=ioc/>
DescriptionEdit
This very long-winged petrel is Template:Convert in length with a Template:Convert wingspan. It has mainly brown plumage and a long pointed tail. It has a buoyant twisting flight as it picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface.Template:Citation needed
Distribution and habitatEdit
The species has a wide distribution through tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, it is a year-round resident in Cabo Verde, China, French Guiana, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Senegal and Taiwan, it breeds in the Macaronesian Islands and continental Portugal in the Atlantic; and from eastern China and the Bonin Islands, east to the Hawaiian Islands, the Marquesas Islands, the United States Minor Outlying Islands and Kiribati in the Pacific. It is marine and highly pelagic, usually found far from land except during the breeding season.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> This species has been sighted in Europe as a rare vagrant to Ireland, the Netherlands, France and Italy.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> It has also appeared as a vagrant in North America, with rare sightings far off the coast of both California<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and North Carolina<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Australia.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /><ref>Template:Citation</ref>
BehaviourEdit
BreedingEdit
(coll.MHNT)
Nests are built in burrows, vegetation, cliff caves/crevices, and under man-made debris and onshore driftwood.<ref name=birdlife/> It does not excavate these burrows.<ref name="Hauber2014">Template:Cite book</ref>
The breeding season for Bulwer's petrel starts in April and May.<ref name=birdlife/> When breeding, it will always return to its previous nest site and mate with its previous mate.<ref name="Hauber2014"/> Breeding pairs form colonies of 7,000-9,000 pairs during the breeding season.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
This petrel lays a clutch of one egg, although young and inexperienced birds will occasionally lay two eggs. The egg is beige-white and usually measures Template:Convert. Both sexes incubate the eggs for a period of 42 to 46 days. They will also both feed the chicks.<ref name="Hauber2014"/>
FeedingEdit
Bulwer's petrel is highly pelagic, and rarely found near land (except during the breeding season). Its diet mainly consists of small fish (such as sardines) and squid, with some additional crustaceans (such as crabs, krill, and shrimp) and plankton.<ref name="birdlife">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ThreatsEdit
In the North East Atlantic, the species is predated by cats, house rats and endemic invertebrates. Feral cats are considered a major driver of the present distribution of the species. In the Azores, breeding areas are restricted to steep cliffs to avoid cat predation. In one colony on Madeira, predation of Shearwater chicks by Madeiran wall lizards has been recorded in up to 10% of nests, though it is highly unlikely to have an impact on the species on a population level. The large colony in the Desertas Islands suffers intense human exploitation for food or fish bait, which also occurs at a lower level in other North East Atlantic sites, although not in the Salvage Islands following the declaration of the islands as a nature reserve.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
The Bulwer's petrel is thought to suffer a heightened risk of mortality from oil spills and other marine pollution, including light pollution at night. Tourism and recreational developments may reduce available habitat in breeding colonies.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- BTO BirdFacts - Bulwer's petrel
- Bulwer's petrel videoTemplate:Dead link on the Internet Bird Collection
- Oiseaux Text, map, photograph.
- VIREO Photographs