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Volume 47, No. 1

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First confirmed African record of Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata


Authors

DAVID G. ALLAN1 & NIALL D. PERRINS2
1Curator of Birds, Durban Natural Science Museum, PO Box 4085, Durban 4000, South Africa (David.Allan@durban.gov.za)
2Bustards Birding Tours, Unit 4 Pentagon Park, Capital Hill, Midrand, South Africa

Citation

ALLAN, D.G. & PERRINS, N.D. 2019. First confirmed African record of Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata. Marine Ornithology 47: 89 - 91

Received 21 November 2018, accepted 15 January 2019

Date Published: 2019/04/15
Date Online: 2019/04/02
Key words: Africa, distribution, Pseudobulweria rostrata, South Africa, Tahiti Petrel

Abstract

A Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata was observed and photographed 33 km offshore of Durban, South Africa (at 30.040°S, 31.346°E), on 11 November 2018. The only other reports of this species in Africa or the western Indian Ocean are unconfirmed and are from off southern Mozambique, dated November 1987 and December 1990. We believe that the size of the Durban bird distinguishes it from the very similar but smaller Beck's Petrel P. becki.

References


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BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL 2018b Species factsheet: Pseudobulweria becki. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Available online at http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/becks-petrel-pseudobulweria-becki, accessed 20 Nov 2018.

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