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White-faced storm petrel

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White-faced storm petrel
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Oceanitidae
Genus: Pelagodroma
Reichenbach, 1853[2]
Species:
P. marina
Binomial name
Pelagodroma marina
(Latham, 1790)
Distribution map of the species
Synonyms
  • Procellaria marina Latham, 1790[3]

The white-faced storm petrel (Pelagodroma marina), (Māori: takahikare)[4] also known as white-faced petrel or frigate petrel is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Hydrobatidae (Oceanitidae)[5][6]. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Pelagodroma. It is widely distributed across the southern hemisphere, especially around the coastal and open ocean waters of southern Australia and New Zealand[7]

Description

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The white-faced storm petrel is 19 to 21 centimetres (7.5 to 8.3 in) in length with a 41 to 44 centimetres (16 to 17 in) wingspan and 40 to 70 grams body mass[8]. It has a pale brown to grey back, rump and wings with black flight feathers[9]. It is white below, unlike other north Atlantic petrels, and has a white face with a black eye mask like a phalarope. Its distinctive grey-brown dorsal side plumage makes it one of the easier petrels to identify at sea from a distance. Both sexes of this frigate petrel have similar plumage with no seasonal variation[7].

Subspecies

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Here are six recognised subspecies, breeding in island colonies through subtropical to subantarctic regions of the Atlantic, Indian and south-western Pacific Oceans in both hemisphere [10]:[11][12]

Behaviour

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The white-faced storm petrel is strictly pelagic outside the breeding season, and this, together with its often-remote breeding sites, makes this petrel a difficult bird to see from land. Only in severe storms might this species be pushed into headlands. There have been a handful of western Europe records from France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. It has a direct gliding flight and will patter on the water surface as it picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface. It is highly gregarious, but does not follow ships[7]. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow.

Breeding

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Egg - MHNT

The white-faced storm petrel breeds on remote islands in the south Atlantic, such as Tristan da Cunha and also Australia and New Zealand[17][18]. There are north Atlantic colonies on the Cape Verde Islands, Canary Islands and Savage Islands[7]. It nests in dense colonies close to the sea in rock crevices and lays a single white egg[9]. It spends the rest of the year at sea. It is strictly nocturnal at the breeding sites to avoid predation by gulls and skuas, and will even avoid coming to land on clear moonlit nights.

The breeding period varies slightly between regions. In Australia, the breeding cycle of white-faced storm petrel aligns closely with those in New Zealand. From a study made on Mud Islands, Victoria, these petrels present from September until mid-March. The eggs are then laid from end-October to mid-December with the average egg-laying date on Mud Islands is around 11th November, similar to Whero Island, New Zealand on 16th November. Most of the chicks fledged by mid of March at both sites[19]. The hatching of the eggs started from mid to end of December with mean date was 24th December. The average incubation period taken by the white-faced storm petrel was about 51.7 days. Then, the fledging of chicks took over 31 days with the last chick to departure was at 11th March, marked the end of breeding cycle. A total period of about 6 and a half months in Mud Islands was shorter than a study done at Salvagem Grande Island, North-east Atlantic where presence of the population there was about 9 months from mid December to mid-August[20].

Feeding

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Foraging

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White-faced Storm Petrels described as surface foragers because they often seen pattering on the water by stretching out their wings and using their long legs to lightly touch the water surface while maintaining flight[21]. The use of pattering is significant in this Oceanitidae family but this species pattering almost all the time than other petrels[22]. However, during strong wind, they move like pendulum by swinging side-to-side using their feet to push off the water and they will glide quickly across the water with stiff wings and one leg lowered when moving between feeding spots[7]. They mainly travel for significant distances to forage, covering up to 400 km from their breeding colony[5]. Observations recorded from ships indicate that they generally forage over continental shelves while sometimes venturing near the African coast and Canary Islands, particularly during chick rearing due to high productivity[5][23]. During incubation, the foraging trips average around 5.1 days with more than 700 km total distance covered by this species. Meanwhile, during chick rearing, trips shorten to 3 days covering approximately 578 km to ensure consistent feeding for their chicks[5].

Diet

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These white-faced petrels are opportunistic feeders in which they could consume a diverse array of prey based on availability[21]. Studies at the Chatham Islands found the white-face feed on a wide range of krill, amphipods, planktonic crustaceans, and small fish[21][24]. Mesopelagic fish is one of their diet preferences to consume especially from Myctophidae family (FO = 71%) in the Pacific and North Atlantic[21][25]. Meanwhile, the second biggest group diet are cephalopods (FO = 24%), most of which come from Mastigoteuthis magna species. In addition, example of crustaceans they eat are from Hyperiidea and crab megalops[5].The majority of prey is from the surface while flying or pattering, but occasionally while resting on the surface.[26]

Diseases

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White-faced storm petrels are affected by a trematode Syncoelium filiferum, which uses the krill species Nematoscelis megalops as an intermediate host. The petrels appear to be an accidental or dead-end host for the larvae of the trematode, which need to attach themselves to the gill filaments of near-surface fish to continue their life cycle.[27] Metacercariae[28] of S. filiferum attach using sticky filaments reaching 60 millimetres (2.4 in) long,[27] which adhere to the legs of the petrel and subsequently dry out as the petrels leave the water, resulting in trematode death.[27] The petrels can become caught in vegetation and die. This phenomenon has been described among white-faced storm petrel populations in the Chatham Islands,[28] where it reportedly causes mortality epidemics.[27] The trematode larvae also attach to the legs of fairy prions but do not often cause bridging leg connections in that species.[27]

Status and conservation

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Widespread throughout its large range, the white-faced storm petrel is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b BirdLife International (2018). "Pelagodroma marina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22698453A132647873. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698453A132647873.en. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  2. ^ Reichenbach, L. (1852). Das natürliche System der Vögel. Dresden und Leipzig. p. IV.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ a b Latham, Joannis (1790). "Genus XCV. Procellaria". Index ornithologicus. Vol. 2. Londini: Sumptibus authoris. p. 826.
  4. ^ Whitehead, E.A.; Adams, N.; Baird, K.A.; Bell, E.A.; Borrelle, S.B.; Dunphy, B.J.; Gaskin, C.P.; Landers, T.J.; Rayner, M.J.; Russell, J.C. (May 2019). Threats to Seabirds of Northern Aotearoa New Zealand (PDF). Hauraki Gulf Forum. pp. 10–11.
  5. ^ a b c d e Alho, Maria; Catry, Paulo; Silva, Mónica C.; Nunes, Vera L.; Granadeiro, José P. (2022-06-18). "Revealing the foraging movements and diet of the White-faced Storm Petrel Pelagodroma marina in the NE Atlantic". Marine Biology. 169 (7): 91. Bibcode:2022MarBi.169...91A. doi:10.1007/s00227-022-04078-z. ISSN 1432-1793.
  6. ^ Gillham, M (1963). "Breeding habitats of the White-faced Storm Petrel (Pelagodroma marina) in eastern Bass Strait". Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. 97: 33–42. doi:10.26749/wtpz8105. ISSN 0080-4703.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic birds: v.1: Ratites to ducks (Pt. A & B)". Choice Reviews Online. 29 (6): 29–3307-29-3307. 1992-02-01. doi:10.5860/choice.29-3307. ISSN 0009-4978.
  8. ^ ICTN; Higgins, P. J.; Davies, S. J. J. F. (1997). "Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Volume 3: Snipe to Pigeons". Colonial Waterbirds. 20 (3): 631. doi:10.2307/1521625. ISSN 0738-6028. JSTOR 1521625.
  9. ^ a b Chambers, Stuart (1989). Birds of New Zealand: locality guide. Hamilton: Arun Books. ISBN 978-0-473-00841-3.
  10. ^ Handbook of the birds of the world: orders Falconiformes and Galliformes. Barcelona: Lynx edicions. 1994. ISBN 978-84-87334-15-3.
  11. ^ "Pelagodroma marina (Latham, 1790)". ITIS. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
  12. ^ "White-faced Storm Petrel". Avibase. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
  13. ^ Murphy, Robert Cushman; Irving, Susan (1951). "A Review of the Frigate-petrels (Pelagodroma)". American Museum Novitates (1506): 1–17. hdl:2246/3964.
  14. ^ a b Mathews, Gregory M. (1912). "Genus--Pelagodroma". The Birds of Australia. Vol. 2. London: Witherby. pp. 19–30.
  15. ^ Bourne, W. R. P. (1953). "On the Races of the Frigate Petrel, Pelagodroma marina (Latham) with a New Race from the Cape Verde Islands". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 73 (7): 79–82.
  16. ^ Webb, P. B.; Berthelot, S.; Moquin-Tandon, Alfred (1836). Ornithologie canarienne. Histoire Naturelle des Îles Canaries. Vol. 2 (2). Paris: Bèthune. pp. 45–56.
  17. ^ IUCN (2018-08-07). Pelagodroma marina: BirdLife International: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22698453A132647873 (Report). International Union for Conservation of Nature. doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2018-2.rlts.t22698453a132647873.en.
  18. ^ Holdaway, Richard N.; Worthy, Trevor H.; Tennyson, Alan J. D. (January 2001). "A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 28 (2): 119–187. doi:10.1080/03014223.2001.9518262. ISSN 0301-4223.
  19. ^ Richdale, L. E. (1965-12). "Biology of the birds of Whero Island, New Zealand, with special reference to the Diving Petrel and the White‐faced Storm Petrel". The Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. 31 (1): 1–86. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1965.tb00364.x. ISSN 0084-5620. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Campos, Ana R.; Granadeiro, José P.; Granadeiro, Jose P. (1999). "Breeding Biology of the White-Faced Storm-Petrel on Selvagem Grande Island, North-East Atlantic". Waterbirds: The International Journal of Waterbird Biology. 22 (2): 199. doi:10.2307/1522208. ISSN 1524-4695.
  21. ^ a b c d Spear, Larry B.; Ainley, David G.; Walker, William A. (2007). Foraging dynamics of seabirds in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Studies in avian biology. Camarillo, CA: Cooper Ornithological Society. ISBN 978-0-943610-79-5. OCLC 155100707.
  22. ^ Hoyo, Josep del; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Cabot, José, eds. (1992). Handbook of the birds of the world. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-84-87334-10-8.
  23. ^ Handbook of the birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa: the birds of the Western Palearctic. Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford University Press. 1977.
  24. ^ de L. Brooke, M. (2004-05-07). "The food consumption of the world's seabirds". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 271 (suppl_4): S246-8. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0153. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 1810044. PMID 15252997.
  25. ^ Waap, S. (2015) Trophic relationships among pelagic predators of the deep seas of the Madeira islands. Doctoral Dissertation. Cardiff University
  26. ^ Heather, B. D.; Robertson, Hugh A. (2000). The field guide to the birds of New Zealand (Rev. ed.). Auckland, N.Z: Viking. p. 223. ISBN 0670893706.
  27. ^ a b c d e Imber, M.J. (1984). "Trematode anklets on whitefaced storm petrels Pelagrodoma marina and fairy prions Pachyptila turtur" (PDF). Cormorant. 12 (1): 71–74. Retrieved 9 March 2024 – via Marine Ornithology Journal of Seabird Science and Conservation.
  28. ^ a b Claugher, D. (1976). "A trematode associated with the death of the white-faced storm petrel (Pelagodroma marina) on the Chatham Islands". Journal of Natural History. 10 (6): 633–641. Bibcode:1976JNatH..10..633C. doi:10.1080/00222937600770501.
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