Soft-plumaged Petrel
Pterodroma mollis
Attractive petrel with a black mask, largely gray above and white below, with a diagnostic dark breast band. Note the heavy dark bill. In flight, exhibits gray underwings and gray and dark brown M-pattern on the back. The rare dark morph has dark underparts, but still retains the distinctive complete breast band, which is the most useful mark separating this species from Fea’s and Zino’s Petrels. Usually encountered well offshore, in towering roller-coaster flights; sometimes follows boats.
Identification
The soft-plumaged petrel is a medium-sized petrel. Its plumage is dark grey and white, and its wings are narrow and with a pointed tail distinct in flight. It has a dark grey head with prominent white feathers on the cheeks and throat. There is a white speckling on forehead along with a prominent dark eye patch. Its underside is mostly white, which turned dark grey at underwings. The bill is black and about 25–32 mm long and has a sharp hook. Its legs are pink with black on the outer webs and toes. There is also the dark morph, which is another variation of the petrel.<p>Both sexes are noisy, making medium-pitched moans and shrill squeaks.
Taxonomy
Fea's petrel (P. feae), Desertas petrel (P. desertae) and Zino's petrel (P. madeira) of the North Atlantic were formerly treated as subspecies of this bird.
- Scientific name
- Pterodroma mollis
- Authority
- (Gould, 1844)
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Procellariidae
- Genus
- Pterodroma
Range and habitat
It breeds on islands in the Southern Hemisphere, nesting on Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island, the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Macquarie Island, and on the Antipodes Islands of New Zealand. Small numbers breed in the Maatsuyker Island Group of southern Tasmania. It disperses outside the breeding season, reaching eastern South America north to Brazil, southern Africa and Australia. It has occurred as a vagrant in Israel, Norway and Jordan.
- Breeding range
- SO : subtropical to subantarctic islands of South Indian and South Atlantic oceans, from Tristan da Cunha and Gough (sc Atlantic) to Maatsuyker I. (s of Tasmania), Macquarie (far se of Australia) and Antipodes (se of Stewart I., New Zealand)
- Non-breeding range
- to waters of s Australasia, s Africa, s of Madagascar and se South America
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
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