Murphy's petrel

Murphy's petrel
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Pterodroma
Species: P. ultima
Binomial name
Pterodroma ultima
Murphy, 1949

The Murphy's petrel (Pterodroma ultima) is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. The bird is 15 inches in length, with a 35 inch wingspan and weigh about 13 ounces.[2]

Very little is known about this species of petrel. First described in 1949, it wasn't until the 1980s that it was determined that these petrels might be regular visitors far offshore of North America.[3] It occurs in the South Pacific, nesting on rocky islets and cliffs off tropical oceanic islands in the Austral, Tuamotu, and Pitcairn island groups.[4] The bird has been recorded off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands and well off the Pacific Coast of the United States and in the southern Gulf of Alaska[5]. Most reports of Murphy's petrels are over 40 miles offshore[3]and the species reportedly has one of the greatest foraging ranges of any breeding seabird[6]

References

  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Pterodroma ultima". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. Sibley, David Allen (2014). The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York: Knopf. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-307-95790-0.
  3. 1 2 "Murphy's Petrel". Audubon. 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  4. "Pterodroma ultima (Murphy's Petrel)". www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  5. http://www.pacificseabirdgroup.org/publications/MB_of_NOPAC/SP1993_CWS_EC_11.pdf
  6. http://www.int-res.com/prepress/m12244.html


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