From Opus

Pterodroma rostrata

Photo by Tom Tarrant.
Location: Off Gold Coast, southeast Queensland, Australia

[edit] Identification

39 cm. Dark brown upperparts, pale upper tail coverts, dark brown underwing, throat, dark brown upper chest sharply demarcated from white underparts.

[edit] Distribution

Samoa, Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Mexico, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, and possibly the Cook Islands.

[edit] Taxonomy

Beck's Petrel has been split from Tahiti Petrel.

[edit] Pseudobulweria vs. Pterodroma

Some authorities (Howard & Moore, 2003, Brooke 2004, Christidis & Boles 2008) recognize the genus Pseudobulweria as holding Mascarene Petrel (aterrima), Tahiti Petrel (rostrata), Beck's Petrel (becki), and Fiji Petrel (macgillivrayi). However, Clements (2007) and Sibley & Monroe (1996) retain these species in Pterodroma, and the Opus awaits further clarification.

[edit] Habitat

Moist lowland forests, montanes, shrubland, open seas and rocky shores.

[edit] Behaviour

Eggs are laid in burrows on rocky slopes or in open upland forest.

[edit] External Links

• View more images of this species on the ABID
• View more images of this species on Orientalbirdimages