| Mottled Petrel | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Procellariidae |
| Genus: | Pterodroma |
| Species: | P. inexpectata |
| Binomial name | |
| Pterodroma inexpectata (J.R. Forster, 1844) |
|
The Mottled Petrel (Pterodroma inexpectata) is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. The bird is 33-35 cm in size, with a 74-82 cm wingspan.
This species is highly pelagic, rarely approaching land, except to nest and rear young. The Mottled Petrel feeds on mostly fish and squid, with some crustaceans taken. It is a transequatorial migrant, breeding in New Zealand and some of the lesser islands, then moving to the Bering Sea, concentrating in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.
The Mottled Petrel uses burrows and rock crevices to nest in. It was formerly more numerous than today. The species' numbers have been and continue to be affected by predation by introduced mammals.
Media related to Pterodroma inexpectata at Wikimedia Commons