Guadalupe storm petrel

Guadalupe storm petrel
Mounted specimen, Field Museum
Conservation status
Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Procellariiformes
Family:	Hydrobatidae
Genus:	Hydrobates
Species:	H. macrodactylus
Binomial name
Hydrobates macrodactylus (Bryant, WE, 1887)
Synonyms
Oceanodroma leucorhoa macrodactyla W.E. Bryant, 1887 Oceanodroma macrodactyla W.E. Bryant, 1887

The Guadalupe storm petrel (Hydrobates macrodactylus) is a small

This species was almost indistinguishable from its relative, Leach's storm petrel. In the field, they could not be told apart except by their annual rhythm. In the hand, the Guadalupe storm petrel could be distinguished by slightly larger size and the paler underwing coverts.^[3] There is no evidence for sexual dimorphism in this species.

Breeding

The breeding season was set between the two other breeding storm petrel species of Guadalupe, the winter-breeding

Its call was described by Walter E. Bryant as sounding something like "here's a letter, here's a letter", with repeated interjections of "For you, for you".[7]

Ecology

Three species of

In January 1885, multiple specimens were collected and described by Walter E. Bryant.^[7] The introduction of cats to the island decimated the population during the late 19th century. Introduced goats were also responsible for degradation of the environment. By the end of the 1906 breeding season, it was still considered "abundant",^[6] though the "large numbers" of birds present there and then must have been nearly the entire population of this species. Still, it was noted that:

the mortality among these birds from the depredations of the cats that overrun the island is appalling – wings and feathers lie scattered in every direction around the burrows along the top of the pine ridge.^[6]

Two specimens were reportedly collected between March 2 and March 5, 1911,

From June 4 to June 10, 2000, the Guadalupe storm petrel's breeding grounds were finally surveyed at the correct time. Had the species survived, not only would recently fledged immature birds have been present, but also all signs of a recently ended breeding season, such as eggshells and freshly used burrows retaining the musky smell of these birds. In the words of the expedition's primary researcher, Exequiel Ezcurra of the San Diego Natural History Museum,

We searched thoroughly for the Guadalupe storm petrel, and failed to find it. Sadly, we are now more ready to admit that the species is indeed extinct. Never, since the 1920s, had so much search effort been devoted to this species. At different times, more than 10 researchers looked for the elusive creature. It simply was not there.^[13]

The official classification by the