'First Atlantic Murphy''s Petrel, Pterodoma ultima, at St Helena'

4 Pages·1999·2.9 MB·

by  Beau W Rowlands

S
.
Discoveries
First Atlantic record of a Murphy’s Petrel
Pterodroma ultima, at St Helena
Beau W. Rowland 1 and Trevor Truemanh
Le premier Pterodroma ultima a etre enregistre dans l’atlantique a ete observe et photographie a
Hooker’s Ridge a St Helena le 31 mars 1992. Une descriptioncompletea ete presente. L’oiseau aete
present de fa^on intermittante, pendant au moins deux ans et a construit un nid visible. D’autres
informationscollecteesparlesinsulaireslocaux, nousmontred’autresevenennentd’oiseaux. Il n’ya
passulterieuresobservationsfaitesparlesomithologistes.L’oiseauetaitviaisemblablementunmigrateur,
maisuncertainsnombresd’auteursprecedentsontspeculequesiilsn’ontpasdecouvertlespopulations
desoiseauxdemerilest probablequ’ilssesoientreproduita StHelena.
Restricted,asabreedingbird,tothecentralPacific Sandy Bay at 300 m above sea-level. In flight and at
Ocean,Murphy’sPetrelPterodromaultimaisnot rest, the bird was observed from as little as 3 m
included in published lists ofbirds recorded in the through9x35 binoculars. Colourslidephotographs
AStoluatnhtiAct2l'5a,7n-t8’i1c0-1O6c. eEaarnl,yTiTnw1a98s8,inofnorSmtedHeblyenthaeIlsaltaenWd, w50ermemtalkeennswciatmheraa5.00mmmirrorlensandastandard
J (John) Bailey of the repeated occurrence of an Although cloud cover persisted throughout the
unidentifiedseabirdintheHooper’sRidgeareaofthe observation period, the light was very good. There
island. On 31 March, TTspentone hour, from07.43 was a strong east-south-east wind (approximately
hrs, observing the bird closely, taking photographs, Force 7), but on 18 March, when the bird was also
drawing sketches and compiling a detailed descrip- seen, thewindwasweaker(Force4or5).
tion.AfullaccountappearsintheBOUChecklistThe
BirdsofStHelena^ FromTT’stransparencies,shown Behaviour
at the BOU annual conference at which the above For most of the observation period, the bird flew
checklistwaslaunched(April 1998),andhisaccount, alongroughlythesamecircularpathinananticlock-
including the rendition of the calls, the bird was wise direction relative to a map. From the cottage it
formally identified by M de L Brooke and W R P soaredtothenorth, thenwestandthen, flyingdown
BourneasaMurphy’sPetrel. Supportingdetailsfrom into the strong east-south-eastwind, it would glide,
TT’s accountare presentedbelow. calling,feetdangling,teeteringfromside-to-side,with
the wind ruffling its wing-coverts, approaching a
Location and conditions broken off dead aloe, 5-6 m north of the cottage.
Hooper’s Ridge is a south-west tail of St Helena’s CallingwithfeetdanglingiscommonlyseeninPacific
central ridge, and runs across the western end ofa colonies of Murphy’s Petrel (M de L Brooke pers
steep,barrenvalleyleadingeasttoBroadGut,thatin comm).Ithunginthewindnearthetipofthealoefor
turnrunsintoSandyBay.Theridgeandvalleyfalljust a few seconds before dropping a little past it and
withintheperipheralaridzone. Barerockandsandy soaring north again. On approximately half of the
soilsupportsomesparsevegetationonthenorthside approachesthebirdrubbeditsbillagainstthesideof
ofthevalleyandaroundthe three orfourhouses in the end ofthe aloe. The diameterofthe circuit was
the area. clOOm.
To the west of the ridge, 200 m below, on the Tetherednearthebaseofthealoe,whichwasc3
southsideofthevalleyliesasmallcottage,atthattime mtall, was an intermittentlynoisydog, ofwhichthe
belonging to Frederick & Thelma March (Plates 22 birdseemedoblivious.
and 23 in Rowlands etaP), around which the bird Thebirdrestedintwoplaces. Onewasashallow
centreditsactivities. Some bushes, includinga dead depression in the ground with a few blades of dry
aloe, surround the cottage which is 3 km west of grass.AccordingtoTMarchthiswasitsusualresting
Discoveries BullABC Vo!6No 1-25
place. Inthestrongwindsof31Marchitrestedmore Voice
often and favoured a similar but less hollowed out As the bird approached the dead aloe, and while
patchofgroundshelteredbysomevegetationc30cm hanging in the air with its bill near or touching the
high. Both areas were c20 m above andwest ofthe aloe, it called in two ways. One or both calls were
cottage. When approached to within 4 m the bird madeoneachapproach,neitherpredominating.One
walked a few paces into the wind before flying off was a series ofc7 mournful wupnotes, accelerating
onto its circuit. T March said she had extricated the andrisingslightlyinpitch,terminatinginadrawnout
birdfromabushnearthe aloe on 17March. woooo descending slightly in pitch. The quality of
these noteswas reminiscent ofbut harder' than the
Description hoot of a Tawny Owl Strixaluco. The call may be
SeePlates 33 inRowlandsetal15. The bird’s sizewas representedaswupwupwupupupupwoooo.Itlasted
assessed from photographs. TT’s binoculars were c2.5sec.Theothercallwasaslightlyshorterkikikiki
placedwherethebirdhadbeensitting,andtranspar- kweeet,aseriesoffourshortnotesfollowedbyamore
enciesofthebirdandthebinoculars, takenfromthe drawnoutkweeet thatinitiallydescendedinpitchand
,
samemarkedspot,wereprojectedandcompared.An thenrose. This callwas similartothatofa Kittiwake
approximation ofthe bird’s wingspanwas made by Rissa tridactyla.
comparing it with the length ofthe bird on suitably Forasimilardescriptionofthetwocallsfromthe
projected transparencies. The birdwas c32 cm long Pacific, ie the Pitcairn islands of Ducie, Henderson
and its wingspan was c81 cm. It was deep-breasted andOeno, see Brooke8
.
and pot-bellied. The thin, medium-length wings
appeared small for its body size. The wings were Previous records
petrel-shaped,withparalleledgesalongmostoftheir F & T March and their nearest neighbours, Alfred
length and slightly blunt-ended. The tail was of (Sammy) & Ethel Stevens, resident at Horse Ridge
mediumlength, broadandslightlyrounded. Thebill c400mtothenorth-west,wereuncertainofthedetails
was black, short and thick, surmounted by a single ofthebird’sreturntoHooper’sRidge.Theyagreedit
tube divided internally by a septum. The eye was hadbeenreturningforperiodsofseveralmonths,that
dark brown. The legs and part ofthe feet appeared ithadbeendoingsoforatleasttwoyearsandthatit
palegreyagainsttheskybutpinkwhenthebirdwas tended to appear in March, but were unsure as to
perched. Almost all ofthe outer web and the distal whetheritstayedforperiodsof6-7monthswithouta
thirdto halfofthe innerweb ofthe feetwere black. breakordisappearedforamonthortwointhemiddle
Thehead,sidesoffaceandnapeweredullgreyish of this period. In the Pitcairn Islands, these are the
brown, affording some contrast with the deep soft samemonthswhenthespeciesispresentatitsbreed-
grey of the mantle, back, rump and scapulars. This ingcolonies7.Whileinattendance, itspentmostdays
grey was intermediate between dull wet slate and behaving as described and would do the same on
clean dry slate. Darker, brownish feather edges gave moonlit nights. Itwould depart forseveral days at a
awavypatterntothemantleandbackandascalloped time,presumablytofeed.Ithadnotbeenseentotake
pattern to the scapulars and lesser-coverts. When anyfoodonland, butpeckedatsomelowshrubson
sitting,theexposedprimarieswerewhollydarkbrown- occasionswhenperched.AStevenshadbeenableto
ish grey. The tertials were brown-grey with a paler attractthebirdbyimitatingitscall,andhadcaughtand
grey distal quarter to one-third. The median-coverts photographed it on one occasion in 1987, when it
appeared as a row of darker brown feathers. The settledonawatertank.AphotoofthebirdheldbyA
throat and chin were whitish grey merging to a pale Stevenswas seenbyNP &MJAshmole, who noted
grey area extending laterally to below the eye and thatitwaspaletowardtheendoftheunderwing.Also,
onto the forehead, contrasting with the darker head. A Stevens found itwas accustomedto resting on an
Theunderpartswereonlyseeninflightandappeared elevatedstructureoftwigs,c25cmaboveground,and
uniform dullbrownishgrey, palerthanthe head and had assumed that this was its nest. He also remem-
darkerthanthethroat.Inflight,theupperwingpattern beredhearingthesamecallsinWildCattlePound,an
was ofa dark grey leading edge, paler and browner area 1.5 km north-west of Hooper’s Ridge, c20-30
grey secondary-coverts, pale grey bases to primaries years previously.
and secondaries and darker grey distal ends to flight
feathers. The underwing was a dull brownish grey, Follow-up
slightly darker than the body. There were palergrey On 18 May 1991 BWR visited Hooper’s Ridge. The
,
basestotheinnerprimaries,forminganindistinctpale birdwasnotpresent,andbothAStevensandTMarch
patch.
26-BullABC Vol6No 1 Discoveries
said it had been absent foratleast twoyears. There hithertonotvisitedbyornithologists), mayprovidea
wasnofurthernewsofthebirdwhenBWRreturned suitable nesting site, as Pterodroma ultima like
,
to StHelena again inJanuary-February 1992. TrinidadePetrelP.arminjonianaofIlhadaTrinidade
On28January1995,A&EStevenswerevisitedby and Martin Vas, and Round Island, offMauritius, is
NP &MJAshmole, whogainedthe followingaddi- notaburrow-nester; thereisnosuitablesubstrateon
tional information (from the late 1980s) concerning StHelena’soutliersforburrows15.Ashmole1, Bourne3
the bird: it ate DeadlyNightshade Solarium nigrum andBourne&Loveridge6havepostulatedthatarelic
berries; colour around eye milky white; feet half- population of petrels and shearwaters may be resi-
webbed; wingspan 30-34 inches; “sort ofMyna bird dent and breed undetected on St Helena’s steep
colour" onback, notblack; made ‘nest’ nearbywith inaccessible mainland cliffs and offshore islets.
twigsongroundunderaloe;nest12inchesacross,on Whether a vagrant ora possible breeder, the occur-
top ofdirt; bird glides and does not flap; very light rence of P. ultima at St Helena, far beyond its
weight, less than 1 lb; seen also 30-40 years ago normallyrecordedrangeinthePacific,highlightsnot
(1955-1965) in ‘Suez Canal’, a little alleyat Frightus, only the importance of observations of petrels, but
closetoAssesEars inthesouth. also the need for regular observations of the less
accessible parts ofoceanic islands.
Identification
The only Pterodroma petrel with similar size and Acknowledgements
plumageisMurphy’sPetrel, aspecieslargerthanthe WethanktheBritishOrnithologists’Unionforpermit-
figuresgiven forthe St Helena bird, being 38-41 cm ting reproduction of a large part of TT’s original
long and having a wingspan of 97 cm10 However, account, published in BOU Checklist No. 16 as Ap-
. W
when S L Olson and R B Clapp examined TT’s pendix 815 Both R P Bourne (University of
.
photographs and description and compared them Aberdeen) and M de L Brooke (University of Cam-
withskinsofMurphy’sPetreltheyconsideredthetwo bridge)arethankedforconfirmingthebird’sidentity
to be indistinguishable. andcommentingonanearlydraftofthemanuscript."!;
W
Moreover,theidentificationby RPBourneand
MdeLBrookeasP.ultimaisbasedonthefactthatno References
othermedium-sizedPterodromahasasimilarcombi- 1. Ashmole,N.P.1963-TheextinctavifaunaofStHelena
nation of grey coloration including the underwing, Island. Ibis 103b: 390-408.
paler chin and inner primaries, and pink legs with 2. Bailey, S.F., Pyle, P. and Spear, L.B. 1989. Dark
darktipstothetoes. Pterodroma petrels in the North Pacific: identifica-
tion, statusandNorthAmericanoccurrence.Amer.
Conclusion Birds43: 400-415.
3. Bourne, W.R.P. 1965. Themissingpetrels.Bull.Br.
Thebirdwas almost certainlyavagrant. On none of Ornithol. Cl. 85: 97-105.
threemotorboattripsundertakenaroundStHelenaor 4. Bourne,W.R.P. 1967.Longdistancevagrancyinthe
landingsonoffshoreisletsandstacksdidBWRseeany petrels. Ibis 109: 141-467.
petrels other than Madeiran Storm Petrel 5. Bourne, W.R.P. 1995. Could the Black-toed Petrel
Oceanodromacastro, althoughhecarriedouta spe- (Procellariamelanopus)havebeenMurphy’sPetrel
cificsearch.Petrelsareknowntobegreatwanderers. CPterodromaultima)?Notornis42: 48-49.
Forexample,Jouanin’sPetrelBulweriafallax, abird 6. Bourne, W.R.P. and Loveridge, A. 1978. Small
ofthenorth-westIndianOcean,hasoccurredamong shearwaters from Ascension and St Helena, South
Atlantic Ocean.Ibis 120: 65-66.
the Hawaiian Islands, near Lisianski Island9 and
Murphy’sPetrelhasbeendiscoveredtomakean,orth- 7. gBardofolkye,peMt.redlseLP.te19r9o5d.rTohmaebsrppe.edoifngthbeioPliotgcyaiorfntIhse-
wardmigrationalongthewestcoastofNorthAmerica lands:characteristics,populationsizesandcontrols.
reaching the southern Gulf of Alaska5. Wandering Biol.J. Linn. Soc. 56: 213-231.
petrels are also prone to visit seabird colonies4. As 8. Brooke, M. deL. 1995. ThecallsofMurphy’sPetrel
Murphy’s Petrel may be an ally ofMottled Petrel P. CPterodromaultima). Notornis43: 50-52.
inexpectata, a Pacific speciesthatfeeds to the south 9. Clapp, R.B. 1971. A specimen ofJouanin’s Petrel
(WRP Bourne pers comm) this may explainwhy it from Lisianski Island, Northwestern Hawaiian Is-
strayedintotheAtlanticsectoroftheSouthernOcean. lands. Condor73: 490.
However,lyingonly5-6kmfromHooper’sRidge,the 10. Harrison,P. 1983.Seabirds:anidentificationguide.
London: CroomHelm.
Speery Island group (which includes Upper and 11. Harrison, P. 1987. Afieldguide to seabirds ofthe
Lower Black Rocks, the Needle and Salt Rock, world. Lexington, Mass: Stephen Greene Press.
Discoveries BullABC Vol6No 1-27
.
12. Imber, M.J.,Jolly,J.N. and Brooke, M. de L. 1995. 15. Rowlands,B.W.,Trueman,T.,Olson,S.L..McCulloch.
Food ofthree sympatricgadflypetrelsPterodroma M.N. andBrooke,R.K. 1998. TheBirdsofStHelena:
spp. breeding onthe Pitcairn Islands. Biol.J. Linn. anannotatedchecklist.BOUChecklistNo. 16.Tring:
Soc. 56: 233-240. BritishOrnithologists’ Union.
13- Murphy,R.C. 1949.AnewspeciesofPetrelfromthe 16. Zimmer,K.J. 1992.Murphy’sPetrelsonDucieAtoll:
14. Pacific. InMayr,E.andSchuz,E.(eds)Ornithologie anotherpieceofthe puzzle.Amer. Birds46: 1100—
alsbiologischeWissanschaft. Heidelberg: CarlWin- 1105.
Mteur.rphy, R.C. and Pannoyer,J.M. 1952. Larger pet- a160DoncasterRoad,Sandyford,NewcastleuponTyne,
relsofthegenusPterodroma.Am.Mus.Novit. 1580: NE2 1RB, UK.
1-43. hc/o Oromia Support Group, The Willows, 6 Orchard
Road, Malvern, Worcestershire, WR143DA, UK.
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28-BullABC Vol6No 1 Discoveries