Fea’s petrel  (Pterodroma feae)

Description

Fea’s petrel is a medium-sized gadfly petrel (3) (4), whose local name, ‘gon-gon’, is said to come from the wailing or cackling call given near the colonies at night (3) (5). The body of Fea’s petrel is grey above, with a dark “M” shape across the wings, and white below, with an indistinct, pale grey half-collar across the upper breast (3) (4). The head is dark, with a mottled whitish-brown forehead, and the beak is black and quite robust (3) (6). The underwings are mainly dark grey-brown, with a poorly-defined white bar along the length of the wing (3) (4), while the tail often has greyish-white outer feathers and darker central feathers (3). The legs are pinkish, and the outer two thirds of the feet black-brown (3).

Male and female Fea’s petrels are similar in appearance, and the juvenile resembles the adult (2) (6). Although virtually identical to the closely related Zino’s petrel (Pterodroma madeira), and until recently considered the same species, Fea’s petrel can be distinguished by its longer, thicker beak and longer, more pointed wings (3) (4) (7) (8).

Darwin Now is the British Council's contribution to the international celebration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150 year anniversary of the publication of On The Origin of Species
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