Bonsaibirder
http://mobro.co/saddinall
Many sightings of Pterodroma petrels in UK waters are now being reported as Fea's Petrels. I don't know if this is just to avoid using the clumsy Fea's/Zino's wording or if people are using the statistical argument that Zino's is extremely unlikely to occur due to it's small population in order to get a tick.
Having just been to Madeira I was interested in the relative populations of these species. It seems there are approximately 80 pairs of Zino's Petrels in Madeira and according to the Birdlife website the population of Fea's Petrel is at least 1200 pairs.
So potentially as many as 1 in 15 of these Pterodroma petrels (which are indistinguishable in the field without very good views) are Zino's. I don't know the exact number of these birds that have been claimed in the UK but it is very clear to me that statistically speaking Zino's Petrel could quite easily have occurred in the last few years.
Cheers,
Having just been to Madeira I was interested in the relative populations of these species. It seems there are approximately 80 pairs of Zino's Petrels in Madeira and according to the Birdlife website the population of Fea's Petrel is at least 1200 pairs.
So potentially as many as 1 in 15 of these Pterodroma petrels (which are indistinguishable in the field without very good views) are Zino's. I don't know the exact number of these birds that have been claimed in the UK but it is very clear to me that statistically speaking Zino's Petrel could quite easily have occurred in the last few years.
Cheers,
Last edited: