- Fregetta grallaria
Identification
Square cut tail, white forehead, face and underparts, broad dark mark through the eye, dark grey upperparts. Various colour phases have been observed, including a dark phase, having sooty plumage, with only the rump and belly showing white.
Distribution
Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Maldives, Namibia, New Zealand, Saint Helena, South Africa, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Taxonomy
Four subspecies recognized:
F. g. grallaria - Admiralty Islands, Lord Howe Island and The Kermadecs.
F. g. leucogaster - Tristan da Cunha Group, Gough Island and St Paul Island.
F. g. segethi - Juan Fernandez Islands.
F. g. titan - Rapa Island in the Austral Group.
Habitat
Open seas.
Behaviour
The nest consists of a chamber usually located amongst large rocks.
