Beck's petrel

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Beck's petrel

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Pseudobulweria
Species:
P. becki
Binomial name
Pseudobulweria becki
(Murphy, 1928)
Synonyms[2]

Pterodroma becki
Pterodroma rostrata becki

Beck's petrel (Pseudobulweria becki) is a small species of

critically endangered by the IUCN
.

Description

It is dark brown above and on the head and throat. It is dark underneath the wings with a fairly distinct white wingbar. The belly and breast are white. It flies over open oceans with straight wings that are slightly bent back at the tips.

History

The petrel used to be known from only two specimens – a female east of

Rendova, Solomon Islands in 1929. In 2005, a bird possibly of this species was photographed in Australia's Coral Sea by birding tour guide Richard Baxter. He noted that it was definitely not the similar and much more common Tahiti petrel because it is much smaller. He also noted the pale throat and shorter and broader wings. This record has not been officially accepted by the Birds Australia
Rarities Committee, considering at the time of the report, no living specimens of the species had been found, but given the new evidence this may eventually change.

In recent times, sightings of birds that may have been Beck's petrels were reported from the

Cape St George, New Ireland. A bird that had recently died was collected as the third specimen, finally providing definite proof of the mysterious petrels' identity. In February 2010 a live Beck's petrel, disoriented by ship's lights during night flight, landed on a cruise ship (chartered for a birdwatching tour) between New Zealand and New Guinea, and, after being closely examined, was released alive the next day.[3]

Breeding

The breeding grounds are still undiscovered. While most of the data suggests a location in the southern Bismarck Archipelago, petrels are notoriously migratory and move away from their breeding grounds after the young have fledged, often for considerable distances. It is still more likely than not that the species breeds in Melanesia southeast of New Guinea, as was hypothesized at the species' discovery.

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697913A132612218.en
    . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Pseudobulweria becki". Avibase.
  3. ^ The Babbling Brook, periodical of the Wachiska Audubon Society of Southeast Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, July 2010; article "Petrel Encounter" by Jeanne Kern, page 2

BirdLife International (2006) Species factsheet: Pseudobulweria becki.Downloaded from Archived 2007-07-10 at the Wayback Machine on 26 June 2006

External links

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