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 LC    Herald Petrel* Id (Atlas): 921
    Pterodroma heraldica Summer Resident

Description (10)
Image of Herald Petrel
 

Other Names (World)
Herald Petrel, Trindade Petrel, Trinidad Petrel, Trindade Island Petrel, Trinidad Island Petrel

Family
Procellariidae (Petrels, Shearwaters)

Size
35 - 39 cm
Wingspan: 95 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Salvin, 1888)

Derivation
Pter-o'-drom'-a - Gk, pteron, wing; Gk, dromos, race, running: heraldica - ?

Abundance (Guide)
V - UC

Occasionally observed at sea off the eastern coast of Australia, south to about Nowra, NSW.

Habitat
Marine, pelagic, in tropical and sub-tropical waters.

Range (Guide)
Australia (B), Chile (E) (B), Cook Islands (B), French Polynesia (B), New Caledonia (B), Pitcairn Islands (B), Tonga (B).

Image of Range of Herald Petrel
Breeds only at Raine Island, Queensland in the Australian region. Breeds at various islands in the tropical Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Rare visitor to the seas off eastern Australia.
 
Rarity Status
View Rarity Status Information

Population
Estimated population is 150,000 (2010).

Status LC
Critically endangered.

See also EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Fish, squid and other marine life.

Voice
Silent at sea. Occasional calling uttered in display flight, heard both during the day and at night. Rarely call while on ground. Most common call is a high-pitched chattering, consisting of repeated single notes 'ti-ti-ti....' or 'hi-hi-hi...'. A drawn-out, harsh moan uttered in alarm. A staccato 'hik' and chattering tern-like noises uttered between bickering birds at breeding colonies.



Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (10)...)

 
Herald Petrel (Pterodroma heraldica) [XC110902]
     by Johannes Fischer from Mount Maungapu, Aitutaki, Cook Islands, New Zealand (song)

 
Herald Petrel (Pterodroma heraldica) [XC141341]
     by Alvaro Jaramillo from Round Island, Mauritius (flight call)

Breeding Season (Guide)
Sporadically throughout the year.

J F M A M J J A S O N D
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


Nest
A chamber at the end of a burrow.

Eggs (Guide)
1; white; rounded-oval; about 59 x 43 mm. Incubation: 52 days; both sexes, in shifts.

Subspecies
Pterodroma arminjoniana (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Trindade Petrel (Pterodroma arminjoniana), Herald Petrel (Pterodroma heraldica) and Henderson Petrel (Pterodroma atrata) following Brooke (2004).

Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Trindade Petrel (Pterodroma arminjoniana).

No subspecies.

Similar Species
Light morph with Phoenix Petrel (Pterodroma alba) and Magenta Petrel (Pterodroma magentae) which have white under tail-coverts and wholly dark underwings, dark morph with Providence Petrel (Pterodroma solandri) which is greyer and has less white on the underwing.

Compare Images


References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9


Files:
JPG files for Herald Petrel (Pterodroma heraldica) - 10 filesMP3 files for Herald Petrel (Pterodroma heraldica) - 1 files


More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Herald Petrel see... Show Articles BirdLife International Species Factsheet.


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