White-faced Storm-Petrel (Pelagodroma marina)

Other Names (World)
White-faced Storm-Petrel, Frigate Petrel, White-breasted Stom-Petrel, Storm Petrel, Mother Carey's Chicken, White-faced Storm Petrel

Family
Oceanitidae (Southern Storm-petrels)

Size
18 - 21 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Latham, 1790)

Derivation
Pelagodroma - Gk, pelagos, open or high sea; Gk, dromos, race, running: marina - marine

Abundance (Guide)
LA

Common in seas off southern coasts. Migratory.

Habitat
Marine, pelagic.

Range (Guide)

Australia (B), British Indian Ocean Territory, Cape Verde, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Southern Territories (E) (B), Heard Island and McDonald Islands (B), Indonesia, Mauritania, New Zealand (B), Oman, Peru, Portugal (B), Senegal, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spain (B) (NB), St Helena (B), Uruguay (NB), Yemen.

Vagrant to American Samoa, Argentina, India, Kiribati, Maldives, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands Antilles, Seychelles, Timor-Leste, United Kingdom, USA.

Unknown to Falkland Islands (Malvinas).

Image of Range of White-faced Storm-Petrel

Breeds at many off-shore islands along the southern coast of Australia from Abrolhos Group, WA, to Broughton Island, NSW.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is 4,000,000 (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Surface plankton, fat from dead whales or seals.

Voice
A mournful, repeated, 'woooo'. Young utter plaintive squeaks, mouse-like squeaking.

Listen to call of White-faced Storm-Petrel

(18Kb) © ? (1)

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (2)...)

White-faced Storm Petrel (Pelagodroma marina) [XC565412]
by id from Selvagem Grande, Ilhas Selvagens, Portugal (song)

White-faced Storm Petrel (Pelagodroma marina) [XC313056]
by David Boyle from Selvagem Grande, Ilhas Selvagens, Portugal (call)

Breeding Season (Guide)
Mainly late October - December.

Nest
A chamber at the end of a rat-like burrow, lined with dry grass. In colonies.

Eggs (Guide)
1; white, peppered with red-brown at the blunt end; oval; about 36 x 27 mm. Incubation: 55 - 56 days; by both sexes.

Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 55 - 65 days.

Subspecies
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:

hypoleuca (Webb, Berthelot & Moquin-Tandon, 1842) - Salvage Is.
eadesorum Bourne, 1953 - Cape Verde Islands.
marina (Latham, 1790) - Tristan da Cunha and possibly Gough I.
dulciae Mathews, 1912 - Western & southern Australia.
maoriana Mathews, 1912 - New Zealand area.
albiclunis Murphy & Irving, 1951 - Kermadec Is. Validity of this subspecies is questioned. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Kermadec Storm Petrel (Pelagodroma albiclunis).

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

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