Gadfly petrel

The gadfly petrels are seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. These medium to large petrels feed on food items picked from the ocean surface.

The short, sturdy bills of the Pterodroma species in this group, about 35 altogether, are adapted for soft prey taken at the surface; they have twisted intestines for digesting marine animals which have unusual biochemistries.

Their complex wing and face marking are probably for interspecific recognition.

These birds nest in colonies on islands and are pelagic when not breeding. One white egg is laid usually in a burrow or on open ground. They are nocturnal at the breeding colonies.

Species in taxonomic order
The taxonomy of the gadfly petrels is being reformed at the moment. Several genera have been split off over time, as they are closer to the procellarine and Puffinus shearwaters. Some subspecies have been raised to full species rank. The arrangement given here is traditional, but annotates the changes proposed by Austin (1998) and Bretagnolle et al. (1998). For the current taxonomy, see also Brooke (2004).

A Pleistocene fossil from Aldabra, Indian Ocean, was described as Pterodroma kurodai. Biogeographically, it could belong into any genus.


 * Black-winged Petrel, Pterodroma nigripennis
 * Chatham Petrel, Pterodroma axillaris
 * Bonin Petrel, Pterodroma hypoleuca
 * Gould's Petrel, Pterodroma leucoptera
 * Collared Petrel, Pterodroma brevipes
 * Cook's Petrel, Pterodroma cookii
 * Masatierra Petrel / De Filippi's Petrel, Pterodroma defilippiana
 * Stejneger's Petrel, Pterodroma longirostris
 * Pycroft's Petrel, Pterodroma pycrofti
 * Soft-plumaged Petrel, Pterodroma mollis
 * Magenta Petrel, Pterodroma magentae
 * Atlantic Petrel, Pterodroma incerta
 * Great-winged Petrel, Pterodroma macroptera
 * White-headed Petrel, Pterodroma lessonii
 * Black-capped Petrel, Pterodroma hasitata
 * Bermuda Petrel / Cahow, Pterodroma cahow
 * Zino's Petrel / Madeira Petrel, Pterodroma madeira
 * Fea's Petrel / Cape Verde Petrel, Pterodroma feae
 * Desertas Petrel, Pterodroma deserta
 * Mottled Petrel, Pterodroma inexpectata
 * Phoenix Petrel, Pterodroma alba
 * Murphy's Petrel, Pterodroma ultima
 * Herald Petrel, Pterodroma heraldica
 * Henderson Petrel, Pterodroma atrata
 * Galapagos Petrel, Pterodroma phaeopygia
 * Hawaiian Petrel, Pterodroma sandwichensis
 * Providence Petrel, Pterodroma solandri
 * Trindade Petrel, Pterodroma arminjoniana
 * Barau's Petrel, Pterodroma baraui
 * Kermadec Petrel, Pterodroma neglecta
 * Juan Fernandez Petrel, Pterodroma externa
 * Vanuatu Petrel, Pterodroma occulta
 * White-necked Petrel, Pterodroma cervicalis