Genus of birds
Thegadfly petrels orPterodroma petrels , part of theseabird orderProcellariiformes . The gadfly petrels are named for their speedy weaving flight, as if evading gadflies (horseflies ). The flight action is also reflected in the namePterodroma , fromAncient Greek pteron , "wing" anddromos , "runner".
The short, sturdy bills of these medium to large petrels are adapted for soft prey that they pick from the ocean surface. They have twisted intestines for digesting marine animals that have unusual biochemistries.
Their complex wing and face marking are probably for interspecific recognition.
These birds nest in colonies on islands and arepelagic when not breeding. One white egg is laid usually in aburrow or on open ground. They are nocturnal at the breeding colonies.
While generally wide-ranging, mostPterodroma species are confined to a single ocean basin (e.g. Atlantic), and vagrancy is not as common amongst the genus as in some other seabird species (c.f. the storm petrelsHydrobatidae ). Eleven species in this genus breed in the New Zealand region, and six of these are only found there.[ 1]
The genusPterodroma was introduced in 1856 by the French naturalistCharles Lucien Bonaparte .[ 2] Ancient Greek pteron meaning "wing" withdromos meaning "racer" or "runner".[ 3] type species was subsequently designated as thegreat-winged petrel by the American ornithologistElliott Coues in 1866.[ 4] [ 5]
The species listed here are those recognised in the online list maintained byFrank Gill ,Pamela Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of theInternational Ornithological Committee (IOC), alsoTennyson et al. 2015 .[ 6] [ 7]
Great-winged petrel ,Pterodroma macroptera – Indian and Atlantic OceansWhite-headed petrel ,Pterodroma lessonii – Southern OceanGrey-faced petrel ,Pterodroma gouldi – Pacific OceanAtlantic petrel ,Pterodroma incerta – south Atlantic OceanProvidence petrel ,Pterodroma solandri – west Pacific OceanMagenta petrel ,Pterodroma magentae – south Pacific Ocean, but poorly knownMurphy's petrel ,Pterodroma ultima – east and central Pacific OceanSoft-plumaged petrel ,Pterodroma mollis – Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and margins of western Pacific OceanZino's petrel or Madeira petrel,Pterodroma madeira – east Atlantic OceanFea's petrel ,Pterodroma feae – Atlantic OceanDesertas petrel ,Pterodroma deserta (disputed) – Atlantic OceanBermuda petrel ,Pterodroma cahow – northwest Atlantic OceanBlack-capped petrel ,Pterodroma hasitata – Atlantic Ocean: Cuba and Hispaniola to MartiniqueJamaican petrel ,Pterodroma caribbaea (possiblyextinct ) – Atlantic Ocean: JamaicaJuan Fernández petrel ,Pterodroma externa – east Pacific OceanVanuatu petrel or Falla's petrel,Pterodroma occulta – southwest Pacific OceanKermadec petrel ,Pterodroma neglecta – Pacific Ocean with eccentric breeding in the Indian Ocean onRound Island, Mauritius [ 8] Herald petrel ,Pterodroma heraldica – southwest Pacific Ocean – split fromP. arminjoniana [ 9] Trindade petrel ,Pterodroma arminjoniana – south Atlantic Ocean, with eccentric breeding onRound Island, Mauritius [ 10] [ 11] Henderson petrel ,Pterodroma atrata – southeast Pacific Ocean – split fromP. arminjoniana [ 9] Phoenix petrel ,Pterodroma alba – southwest Pacific OceanBarau's petrel ,Pterodroma baraui – southwest Indian OceanHawaiian petrel ,Pterodroma sandwichensis – central Pacific OceanGalápagos petrel ,Pterodroma phaeopygia – central Pacific OceanMottled petrel ,Pterodroma inexpectata – Pacific OceanWhite-necked petrel ,Pterodroma cervicalis – west Pacific OceanBlack-winged petrel ,Pterodroma nigripennis – west Pacific Ocean with eccentric breeding in the Indian Ocean on Round Island, Mauritius[ 12] Chatham Islands petrel ,Pterodroma axillaris – southwest Pacific OceanBonin petrel ,Pterodroma hypoleuca – northwest Pacific OceanGould's petrel ,Pterodroma leucoptera – south Pacific OceanCollared petrel ,Pterodroma brevipes – southwest Pacific OceanCook's petrel ,Pterodroma cookii – Pacific OceanMasatierra petrel ,Pterodroma defilippiana – east Pacific OceanStejneger's petrel ,Pterodroma longirostris – north and east Pacific OceanPycroft's petrel ,Pterodroma pycrofti – southwest Pacific OceanLarge Saint Helena Petrel ,Pterodroma rupinarum – south AtlanticImber's petrel ,Pterodroma imberi – Chatham Islands^ Colin Miskelly ; Dafna Gilad; Graeme Arthur Taylor; Alan Tennyson; Susan M. Waugh (2019)."A review of the distribution and size of gadfly petrel (Pterodroma spp.) colonies throughout New Zealand" .Tuhinga: Records of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa .30 .Te Papa :99– 177.ISSN 1173-4337 .Wikidata Q106839633 .^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1856)."Espèces nouvelles d'oiseaux d'Asie et d'Amérique, et tableaux paralléliques des Pélagiens ou Gaviae" .Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French).42 : 764–776 [768].^ Jobling, James A. (2010).The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 ^ Coues, Elliott (1866)."Critical review of the family Procellaridae: Part IV; Embracing the Aestrelateae and the Prioneae" .Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia .18 : 134–172 [137].^ Mayr, Ernst ; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979).Check-List of Birds of the World ^ https://boc-online.org/bulletins/downloads/BBOC1353-Tennyson.pdf .{{cite web }}:Missing or empty|title= (help ) ^ Gill, Frank ; Donsker, David;Rasmussen, Pamela , eds. (August 2024)."Petrels, albatrosses" .IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved3 September 2022 .^ Brooke, M.D.L.; Imber, M.; Rowe, G. (2000). "Occurrence of two surface-breeding species ofPterodroma on Round Island, Indian Ocean".Ibis .142 (1):154– 158.doi :10.1111/j.1474-919X.2000.tb07700.x . ^a b Jaramillo, Alvaro (July 2013)."Proposal 582: SplitPterodroma heraldica andP. atrata fromP. arminjoniana " . South American Classification Committee, American Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved23 December 2021 . ^ Brown, Ruth M.; Jordan, William C. (2009)."Characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci from Round Island petrels (Pterodroma arminjoniana ) and their utility in other seabird species" .Journal of Ornithology .150 (4):925– 929.Bibcode :2009JOrni.150..925B .doi :10.1007/s10336-009-0411-5 ^ Brown, R.M.; Jordan, W.C.; Faulkes, C.G.; Jones, C.G.; Bugoni, L.; Tatayah, V.; Palma, R.L.; Nichols, R.A. (2011)."Phylogenetic relationships inPterodroma petrels are obscured by recent secondary contact and hybridization" .PLOS ONE .6 (5): e20350.Bibcode :2011PLoSO...620350B .doi :10.1371/journal.pone.0020350 PMC 3105042 PMID 21655247 . ^ Merton, Don; Bell, Mike (2003)."New seabird records from Round Island, Mauritius" .Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club .123 :212– 215.
