Kerguelen Petrel
Aphrodroma brevirostris
Dark ash-gray petrel of cold southern seas. Small- and stout-bodied overall, but with a large, “puffy”-looking head. Note underwing patterning, with a pale “shoulder” separated from pale-based primaries by a broad, diffuse dark bar. Flies quickly and strongly, often arcing up to impressive heights above the waves on angled, sharply kinked wings. Can be difficult to distinguish from other dark medium-sized petrels at a distance, but note pale patches under the wings, overall gray body coloration, relatively large “cute” head, and flight style. Often forages at night. Nests in loose colonies on the Prince Edward, Crozet, and Kerguelen Islands, as well as Gough Island.
Taxonomy
The Kerguelen petrel was formally described in 1831 by the French naturalist René Lesson. He placed it in the genus Procellaria that had been erected for the petrels by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 and coined the binomial name Procellaria brevirostris. The Kerguelen petrel was formerly included with the gadfly petrels in the genus Pterodroma but is now placed in the genus Aphrodroma that was introduced for the Kerguelen petrel by Storrs L. Olson in 2000. The name Aphrodroma combines the Ancient Greek aphros meaning "sea foam" with -dromos meaning "-racer".The specific epithet brevirostris is from the Latin brevis meaning "short" and -rostris meaning "-billed". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Aphrodroma brevirostris
- Authority
- (Lesson, RP, 1831)
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Procellariidae
- Genus
- Aphrodroma
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- SO : South Georgia, Gough and Inaccessible (sc Atlantic), Prince Edward (s of South Africa), Crozet (s of Madagascar) and Kerguelen is. (s Indian Ocean)
- Non-breeding range
- subantarctic and Antarctic waters n of pack-ice
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
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Dendrocincla turdina
Medium-sized woodcreeper with a short bill. Found in the lower to middle levels of humid forests where it moves restlessly. Rather uniform rufous-brown overall with a brighter tail and a buff throat. Often associated with army-ant swarms and sometimes follows mixed-species flocks, but can also be encountered alone. The northern subspecies lacks the buff throat and has more rufous in the wings and tail.The song is a long (~60 seconds) series of “tchip-tchip-tchip” notes.
Moss-backed Sparrow
Arremon dorbignii
Boldly-patterned sparrow found in montane forests from Bolivia to northwestern Argentina. Usually in pairs on or near the ground, foraging at the edge of forest. Note the bicolored bill with an orange-yellow lower mandible. Also look for the bold black-and-white head pattern, black chest band, and bright mossy-green back. The song is a series of high-pitched notes.
Asian Dowitcher
Limnodromus semipalmatus
Very uncommon large, long-billed shorebird, nearly the size of a godwit, found in coastal mudflats and open marshes. Breeding adult extensively brick-red below, dark and strongly marked with brick-red tones above. Nonbreeding adult grayish brown with a duller, browner bill. Juvenile dark above, with broad gold feather edges, pale below, washed with warm buff or gold tones and with neat dark stipples and chevron-shaped marks. Blackish legs distinguish Asian from Long-billed Dowitcher, which has yellowish-green legs. Blackish or brownish bill of adult Asian differs from bicolored bill of godwits; note that bill of juvenile Asian has pale base.
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