Blue Petrel
Halobaena caerulea
Rather small, attractively patterned petrel of cold subantarctic waters; not seen from mainland. Sometimes accompanies ships, especially near breeding islands and with groups of similar-sized and superficially similar prions. Blue Petrel told from all prion species by dark cap, half collar, and bold white tail tip. Also note differences in flight pattern; often a bit stronger and banks higher in strong winds.
Identification
The blue petrel's plumage is predominantly blue-grey, with a dark "M" extending across the upperwing from wingtip to wingtip. It has a prominent black cap and white cheeks. It is white below apart from dark patches at the side of the neck. The square tail has a white tip. It has a slender black bill. It is 26–32 cm (10–13 in) in length, has a wing span of 62–71 cm (24–28 in) and weighs approximate 200 g (7.1 oz).
Taxonomy
The blue petrel was first described in 1777 by the German naturalist Georg Forster in his book A Voyage Round the World. He had accompanied James Cook on Cook's second voyage to the Pacific. Forster did not give the blue petrel a binomial name, but when the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin updated Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae in 1789 he included a brief description of the bird, coined the binomial name Procellaria caerulea and cited Forster's book. The blue petrel is now the only species placed in the genus Halobaena that was introduced for the blue petrel in 1856 by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The name Halobaena combines the Ancient Greek hals, halos meaning "sea" with bainō meaning "to tread". The specific epithet caerulea is from Latin caeruleus meaning "blue". The word "petrel" is derived from Saint Peter and the story of his walking on water. This is in reference to the petrel's habit of appearing to run on the water to take off. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<p>The blue petrel is a member of the order Procellariiformes. It shares certain identifying features with the rest of the order. First, it has nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. The bills of Procellariiformes are unique in that they are split into between 7 and 9 horny plates. It also produces a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights. Finally, it also has a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate its body, due to the high amount of ocean water it drinks. It excretes a high saline solution from their nose.
- Scientific name
- Halobaena caerulea
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Procellariidae
- Genus
- Halobaena
Range and habitat
The blue petrel inhabits the southern oceans ranging as far north as South Africa, Australia and portions of South America. They mostly only breed in a narrow latitudinal band from 47° to 56° S on either side of the Antarctic Polar Front. Nesting on subantarctic islands, such as the Diego Ramírez Islands, the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island, South Georgia, Prince Edward Island.<p>In 2014 a breeding colony was discovered on Gough Island (40° S, 10° W), central South Atlantic Ocean, more than 700 km north of its known and usual breeding range. Breeding here appears to take place later than at colonies farther south, so although the discovery is recent it does not necessarily represent a recent range extension.
- Breeding range
- SO : islands of subantarctic Atlantic and Indian oceans mostly s of Antarctic Convergence from Diego Ramirez (s of Tierra del Fuego) and Cape Horn (s South America) to Macquarie (far se of Australia)
- Non-breeding range
- forages to Antarctic waters; disperses to waters of s South America and s Australia
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The blue petrel feeds predominantly on krill, as well as other crustaceans, small fish, squid and occasionally insects. It can dive to a depth of up to 6.2 m (20 ft).<p>The blue petrel, like all members of the Procellariiformes, is colonial, and have large colonies. It nests in a burrow, and lays one egg per breeding attempt. Both parents incubate the egg for approximately 50 days and the chick fledges after 55 days. Skuas are the main danger for their eggs and chicks.
Conservation
The blue petrel has a very large range and an estimate population of 3,000,000 adult birds and thus it is rated as Least Concern, by the IUCN.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Purple-backed Fairywren
Malurus assimilis
A small bird with a very long blue tail that is held cocked. Breeding male has a bright pale-blue helmet, black breast, purple back, and chestnut shoulders. Small pale tips are sometimes visible on the tail. Over much of the species’s inland range, females are overall grayish birds with pale fronts and long blue tails; however, females of the subspecies found in the sandstone regions of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land have contrasting blue crowns and backs. This species occurs over much of arid inland Australia and is found in open vegetation.
Sooty Thicket-Fantail
Rhipidura threnothorax
A medium-sized, long-tailed bird of lowland forest thickets, often near streams. All over sooty-gray plumage, with a short white eye-brow, white throat and a black chest with white dots. Likes to stay in cover, where it often twitches and fans its tail. Similar to Black and White-bellied Thicket-Fantails but Sooty has a black belly, and lacks the white wing bars and white tips to the tail. More often heard than seen. Most commonly given call is three explosive, downslurred notes “tyu-tyu-tyu!”.
Olive-backed Foliage-gleaner
Automolus infuscatus
Dark brown foliage-gleaner of mature rainforest understory. Warm dark brown body, with a clean whitish throat patch and reddish brown tail. Does not have prominent reddish brown in the wings like many other foliage-gleaners do; the clean whitish throat, plain face (without a strong eyebrow) and habit of foraging low are other good distinguishing features to tell it apart from other foliage-gleaners. Primarily found in the understory of mature rainforest. Listen for its song, a musical trill with stuttered introductory note, “ch-trrrrrrrr”, similar to that of Chestnut-crowned Foliage-gleaner from denser secondary growth habitats, but slightly lower and with a more distinct introductory note.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.