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Bird name:

Herald Petrel

Pterodroma arminjoniana

Order

PROCELLARIIFORMES

Family

Petrels and Shearwaters (Procellariidae)

Code 4

HEPE

Code 6

PTEARM

ITIS

174570

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

Unknown-

The Herald Petrel has a small breeding range, estimated globally at less than 50,000 square kilometers. Native to Australia and nearby island nations, this bird prefers rocky areas as well as shrubland and marine ecosystems. The global population of this has not been determined exactly, but does not show signs of decline in range or size that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Herald Petrel is Least Concern.

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SUMMARY

Overview

Herald Petrel: Medium petrel, three color morphs: light, intermediate, dark. Dark morph is dark gray overall, silver-gray to white base on underwing flight feathers. Light morph has white breast, belly and dark gray upperparts. Intermediate forms exist between light and dark morphs. Gray legs, feet.


Range and Habitat

Herald Petrel: These birds prefer water below the Equator but were recorded as far north as North Carolina where it is a rare but regular visitor in late spring to late summer. It is known to breed on Raine Island and possibly other small cays in the Coral Sea, and forage in surrounding waters. This bird is mostly pelagic and spends its life at sea coming to nesting grounds only to breed. For breeding it chooses warm islands with soils suitable for nesting burrows.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Voice Text

"ki ki ki ki"

INTERESTING FACTS

  • There are separate populations of Herald Petrel, one occurring in the south Pacific, the other occurring in the south Atlantic.
  • In May 2007, a Herald Petrel tagged on Raine Island in 1984 was observed off the coast of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. This greatly increases the known life span and range of the species.
  • A group of petrels are collectively known as a "gallon" and a "tank" of petrels.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Herald Petrel

TERMINOLOGY

CREDITS

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Samira Belous

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
BellyX
The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
Flight feathersX
Located on the wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.
PelagicX
The pelagic is a type of bird whose habitat is on the open ocean rather than in a coastal region or on inland bodies of water (lakes, rivers). An example of a pelagic bird is the blacklegged kittiwake.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX