A specimen record of White-bellied Storm-Petrel from Fraser Island, southeast Queensland

2 Pages·2002·0.47 MB·

by  Hobson R.

WlilTE-BELLiF.D STORM-PETREL ON ERASER ISLAND 123
A SPECIMEN RECORD OF WHITE-BELLIED whiteUpportail covertsproducingu shatplv demarkedwhite
STORM-PETREL FROMWEDRASER ISLAM), band above the base of llie tail. Upperwings including
SOUTHEAST OLEENsi Memvfr* <>f the primariesuniformsootyblack;secondariesdarksoots brown.
Queensland Museum 48(1/: 123-124. 2002:- The Most featherson upperparts and wings, including the main
White-bellted Siortn-pairel [Fregeita gtaHpfia Vieillot, flight feathertracts,inadvancedstageofwear;someFeathers
aInKd17)trloipviecsailnSwoauttehresrn(MIalremcihsapnhler&esuHbiagmgainrsc,ticIWsOub)t,ropFiocuarl cinmdtihceatmiangntbleegiblnancikn,gwOifthawbhoidtyemtoiuplpti.ng(i.e. freshly moulted)
subspecies breed tin isolated groups of islands and differ Head.chin,throatandupper-breastgrey-brownshading10
primarily in morphometries ( Table fc), The nominate awhitelowerbreastandabdomen(Figs 1.2).Chinandthroat
subspeciesbreedson Admiralty Island(Roach), Lord Howe- feathersuniformgrey-browntotheirbases.Flankswhitewith
Isand Kcrmadec Group(Macauley andCurtis Is.)and isthe shortdarkbarringandmottling;ontherighthandsideadark
closest known form to I: Australia- F i*. leiwngawr is of mark fromthe flanksseparatingwhiteupperlailcoverts from
similarsizetoF a,grallariaandbreedsonTristandaCunlia the underbody Lateral undertail covens black with white
Group,IIIStPaulandAmsterdamIs(Elliot, 1957;Jouventin. tipping tothe feathers,enclosingthewhilecentral undertail
(1M99a4r.c)h.aFnl.i?.&te&Htihgigiinsss.mal1l99a0n)d.bFree$dst(inHaJnuanisFeIhrenanladregzesIts ciJokvteirCstthinagvianngibnrtoeardmeddairaktebarpsh;asteinsbidradr.kUbnadrerritnagilansdoomtoyttdlairnkg
subspecies, breeding on central Pacific Rapa Is and the brown. Lndersurlaceofthe primariesand secondariessootv
AustralGroup(Murphy. I92S). dark brown, with the underwing lining while. Lndciwing
Breeding biology is poorly known: at Lord Howe Is. with a hroad hul irregular shaped blackish leading edge
Egg-laying begins in late January- February (Hindwood. enclosingthe white lining
1940) wilh offspring fledging in May<MathewsJ92X>.F.g. Billblack,withadistinctdownwardcurvetowardsthetip.
feucogaxter (Marchanl & Higgins. 1990) and F. & segetht
blBreenetd.in1g922t)heayredailsspoesrsuemmaenrdorbleacteomseummlaerrgeblryeedpeerlsa.giAclteirn Discussion
subtropical and tropical waters feeding on eephalopods and TheWhite-belliedStorm-petrelspecimen fount!onFrasri
crustaceans(Marchanl & Higgins, 199(1). Island isclearly a bird ofthe nominatesub-species, with all
Status ofllie While-bellied Storm-petrel in Australia is except the tail measurements falling within this subspecies
poorlv known; sight-records from the I oral Sea (Stokes & range (Table I). This measurcmcnl of(he tail was laken by
Corheii. 19X5), Tasmaii Sea (Norris.1967). offshore SI*. QJd QueenslandMuseumstaffandcouldnotberemeasureddueto
andNNSW(Marchanl& Higgins. 1990)andinshoreatPoint specimen preparaiion. If accurate, however this tail
Lookout, North Stradbroke Is. (Palliser. 1985); and a measurement isonly justoul-sidetherangederivedfromthe
beach-washed specimen at Eaglehawk Neck. Tasmania in dataquoted lorthesubspecies by Marchanl & Higgins 1990.
192S(Fletcher. 1947). and should nol change any conclusion of specific
Wedescribeabirdfrom2kmSofF'oyungauRocks.Frascr identification of the specimen. Intcrrncdiale morpli
Island {25"25*S. |53"!<rE) on 24* March 1999. The White-liellicd Stoim-Peirels are known only from the
intermediatemorpli ingoodcondition.Queensland Museum nominatesubspecies,withtheLordHoweIslandGroupbeing
specimen 031210 has uniform sooty black upperparts. with theonly polymorphic population. On the Lord Howe Island
FIG. I. Dorsal view ofQMO3!230.
124 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM
FIG. 2. Ventral viewofQMO31230.
Group, the intermediate morph is uncommon, with the 'BirdsofAustralia'. Pp.139.(Witherby: London).
polymorphic ratio oflight: intermediate: dark birds at 1:4:5 MURPHY.R.C. 1928.BirdscollectedduringtheWhitneySouthSea
(vanTets& Fullagar. 1984). expeditionIV.AmericanMuseumNovitates322: 1-5.
Although occasionally recorded in pelagic waters on the NORRIS, A.Y. 1967. Seabirds observations from the south-west
east coast of Australia (reviewed in Marchant & Higgins. Pacificinthesouthernwinter. Emu67:33-54.
1990),theWhile-belliedStorm-petrelreportedhereisthefirst PALL1SER. T. 1985. The Queensland Ornithological Society Bird
substantiatedspecimen formainlandAustralia. Report, 1984.Sunbird 15:45-70.
LiteratureCited JOUVLNTIN. P. 1994. Les Populations d'oiseaux marins des
T.A.A.F.: Resume de 20 Annees de Recherche. Alauda 62:
BENT,A.C. 1922.LifehistoriesofNorth AmericaPetrels.Pelicans, 44-47.
aBnuldletthienirU.ASl.liNesa.tiOonradlerMuTusbeiunmare1s21a:1n-d33O5r.der Steganopodes. STOKES,T.&CORBEN.C. 1985.Asurveyofpelagicbirdsinthe
HINDW1O-8O6.D, K.A. 1940.ThebirdsofLord Howe Island. Emu40: VANTswEeeTasSbti.errdGns..FC.oAur&satlFraSUleLiaaLnaAnSGdeAaGbRrie.radtP.GBJra.orr1ui9pe8r4N.eRweTsehlfee.tsCttoearrt.euls2lo0af:91A:-u2s25t5.r-a2l9i.an
FELLLEITOCT3THTr9Ei.4sR-t,3aH9n.F5J.D.IAa..C11u99n45h77.a.SGAtrroaucyopn.fterIaibtibhsue.tris9:o9n:T5at4os5m-ta5hne8i6a.onrnNiottheosl.ogyEmouf4t6h:e RPIsroledasneHdno.btsPAodMtdtB,reQ1s0us,eQeMunSesel2na1sn7ld3aPnaRdraPkiasnrabknosdwaWBniedladWcliihlfde4liS5fe8er1v,SiecAreuv,sitcFerr,aalsPieaO,r
MARCHADuuAscNtkrsTa,l.iPaanrS,.tNA&e.w(HOZxIefGaoGlraIdnNdUSn.&iveAPrn.stJi.atryc1t9Pir9ce0s.Bsi:r(dMesde:sl)bVooluH.rann1ed)R.batoiotkesotof BRQeousexoeun7rs3c1le,anUTdnoitPo,awrokPosOmhaBanodx43W54i20l,,dliKAfeuesnttSrneaorlrvieiac;e4,0D6a9Cv,oindAsuesSrttverawataliriota,n;
MATHEWS,G.M.1928.ThebirdsofNorfolkandLordHoweIslands received24Mav2001.
andtheAustralianSouthPolarQuadrantwithadditionstothe
TABLE 1. MorphometriesofthefoursubspeciesofWhite-tailedStorm-Petrels
and the specimen from Fraser Island.
grallaria leucogaster segethi titan QMO31230
Oilmen 13.0-15.0 14.2-17.0 12.6-14.0 15.0-16.3 13.5
Billdepth 5.8
Billwidth 5.7
Wing 159-176 158-182 146-163 177-188 175
Tail 66-82 71-90 71-77 78-89 84
Tarsus 35.1-39.6 37-43 33-37 39-43 36
Mid in,' 20.2-23.4 22-30 20-22.6 23.6-27.0 21