white-naped petrel

This petrel was first procured in the Kermadec group by Captain Carpenter of the whaling barque Costa Rica Packet. A speciman was presented by him to the British Museum and was described by Salvin in 1891. In the same year several others were collected on Raoul Island, or Sunday Island, by T. Bell.

The white-naped petrel was thought to be extinct as feral cats had annihilated the population on Raoul Island until 1969 when they were discovered to be nesting in good numbers on nearby Macauley Island.

On Macauley, it nests in burrows, generally on high, gently sloping areas with sedges and grass. On Raoul, it nested below 300 m on high-altitude ridges. It feeds mainly on squid.

It migrates to the north Pacific Ocean.

Pests which threaten the birds in the Kermadecs are gradually being eradicated by New Zealand's Department of Conservation.

— Greytown, 2008

Taxonomy
Kingdom:
Animalia.
Phylum:
Chordata.
Class:
Aves.
Order:
Procellariiformes.
Family:
Procellariiidae.
Genera:
Pterodroma.
Species:
cervicalis.
Sub Species:
.

Other common names:  — 

Oestrelatus cervicalis, Sunday Island petrel, white-necked petrel, black-capped petrel

Description:  — 

Endemic bird

43cm, 450g, forehead white, blackish cap on crown, nape and sides of face, broad white collar across hind neck, upperparts grey, with black M across wings, underparts and under wing white, bill black, feet and legs pink with black toes.

Where to find:  — 

Breeds in the Kermadecs, a few reach northern part of NZ.

Illustration description: — 

 

Buller, Walter Lawry, Birds of NZ, Supplement, 1905.

Reference(s): — 

 

Heather, B., & Robertson, H., Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand, 2000.

Oliver, W.R.B., New Zealand Birds, 1955.

Readers Digest Complete Book of NZ Birds, 1985

Page date & version: — 

 

Saturday, 17 August 2019; ver2009v1

 
 
 

©  2008    Narena Olliver,    new zealand birds limited,     Greytown, New Zealand.