New Zealand Storm-petrel

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New Zealand Storm-petrel

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Procellariiformes
Family:	Hydrobatidae
Genus:	Oceanites
Species:	O. maorianus

Binomial name

Oceanites maorianus
(Mathews, 1912)

The New Zealand Storm-petrel, Oceanites maorianus, is a small seabird of the tubenose family. Previously thought to be extinct since 1850, a series of sightings from 2003 to the present indicate the presence of a previously unknown colony. [1][2], It has on occasion been considered a subspecies or even variant of Wilson's Storm-petrel O. oceanicus, but is quite distinct.

It spends the rest of the year at sea, and is pelagic outside the breeding season, and this, together with its remote breeding sites, make it a difficult bird to observe.

It had been believed to be extinct, and certainly has not been seen at its known breeding sites, but on 25 January 2003 a possible sighting was made, by Sav Saville, Brent Stephenson and others close to the Mercury Islands off the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island, leading to several inconclusive photographs and an article being published [3],[4]. On 17 November 2003 while looking for Black-bellied Storm-petrels and White-faced Storm-petrels Bob Flood and Bryan Thomas obtained good photographs and video of 10 to 20 New Zealand Storm-petrels, off Great and Little Barrier Island, in the Hauraki Gulf. Subsequently, 4 Storm-petrels were captured and released in a similar area in late 2005/early 2006, three with radio transmitters attached. Unfortunately these have only been tracked at sea, efforts to find the birds breeding location have been unsuccessful to date [5]. The most likely breeding location is within the Hauraki Gulf where the New Zealand Storm Petrel working group are concentrating their efforts. Other tour operators [6] have also regularly seen these birds on the Hauraki Gulf since this time.

This storm-petrel is strictly nocturnal at the breeding sites to avoid predation by gulls and skuas. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow.

The New Zealand Storm-petrel is a small seabird, dark brown/black above, except for its white rump. The underparts are black from the throat to the breast, with a white belly that has black streaking, and the feet project well beyond the tail.

It differs from the commoner species, Wilson's Storm-petrel, by its pale bar on the upper wing, white belly with streaking, narrow white panel on the underwings, longer legs, and dark webs to the feet.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2005). Oceanites maorianus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered
Flood 2003, The New Zealand storm-petrel is not extinct. Birding world 16: 479-483.
Gaskin, C.P.; Baird, K.A. 2005. Observations of black and white storm petrels in the Hauraki Gulf, November 2003 to June 2005; Were they of New Zealand storm petrels? Notornis 52: 181-194
Saville, S.; Stephenson, B.; Southey, I. 2003. A possible sighting of an ‘extinct’ bird – the New Zealand storm petrel. Birding World 16: 173-175.