Chatham Islands Petrel
Pterodroma axillaris
Gadfly petrel of medium size. Dark gray upperparts and white below with a diagonal black bar from the edge of the wing to the black base of the underwing. Has a black bill, a dark eye-patch, and pink legs and feet. Breeds only on the Chatham Islands, but can forage up 3000 km offshore. Migrates to deep waters off the South American coast. Distinguished from Black-winged Petrel by the reduced black bar on the underwing; Mottled Petrel is similar but larger, with a dark belly, lacking the diagonal bar on the wing.
Identification
The Chatham petrel is a medium-sized petrel with a mottled dark-grey and white forehead, dark grey back and upper wings, and white underparts. A black diagonal bar extends from the leading edge of underwing to a black ‘armpit’. The shoulders and upper-wing coverts are a deeper grey giving a dark M pattern across the spread upper wings. <p>The bill is black and strongly hooked tip. The eye is dark, and the legs and feet are pink, with dark outer toes and webs. The sexes are alike. <p>Chatham petrels are rarely observed away from the colony; the few at-sea records are from ships in oceanic waters.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Pterodroma axillaris
- Authority
- (Salvin, 1893)
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Procellariidae
- Genus
- Pterodroma
Range and habitat
This species breeds only in the Chatham Islands.
- Breeding range
- PO : South East I. (=Rangatira, Chatham Is., e of South I., New Zealand)
- Non-breeding range
- to Nazca Ridge w of Peru and Chile (c South Pacific Ocean)
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Red-capped Crombec
Sylvietta ruficapilla
Small and virtually tailless warbler with a pale gray back and rufous marks on the cheek and breast. The color of the cap and forehead vary geographically, and can be gray or rufous. Found in miombo woodland, mainly in the canopy. Often joins mixed-species feeding flocks. The song is a short, up-and-down warble. Similar in shape to other crombecs, but identified by rufous cheek and breast patches.
Pacific Heron
Ardea pacifica
Large dark gray heron with white head and neck. In flight shows white "headlights" on the leading edge of the wing. Typically has dark legs. Usually found near water. Often seen singly, but also occurs in large scattered groups while foraging in damp paddocks and grassland.
Petit's Cuckooshrike
Campephaga petiti
A forest-dwelling cuckooshrike in which males and females are strikingly different. Males are entirely black with a greenish gloss. Females have a barred olive-green back, a whitish throat, and otherwise pale yellow underparts with some barring on the breast. Found in the canopy of various forest types, including gallery forest, lowland rainforest, and montane forest. Not very vocal, but the most frequent vocalizations are thin, high-pitched “seep” notes. The male resembles other black male cuckooshrikes, but is distinguished by the slightly larger patch of bare yellow skin on the mouth and the greenish gloss, though these can be hard to judge. The female is identified by its combination of a barred olive back and a lightly barred yellow breast.
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