Species of bird
The Phoenix petrel (Pterodroma alba ) is a medium-sized tropical seabird , measuring up to 35 cm (1.15 ft) long, with a wingspan of 83 cm (2.72 ft). It has a dark brown upperparts plumage, white below and whitish throat. The sexes are similar.
The Phoenix petrel is found throughout oceans and coastal areas in the central Pacific Ocean . Their colonies can be found on Phoenix , Tonga , Kiritimati , Tuamotu , Marquesas and Pitcairn Island . Females lay one white egg on the ground surface. The diet consists mainly of squid, fish and crustaceans .
Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size, predation by invasive species and human exploitation, the Phoenix petrel is evaluated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .
Taxonomy
The Phoenix petrel was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus 's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the other petrels in the genus Procellaria and coined the binomial name Procellaria alba .[ 5] Gmelin based his description on the "white-breasted petrel" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham from a specimen belonging to the naturalist Joseph Banks .[ 6] The type locality is Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Pacific Ocean.[ 7] The Phoenix petrel is now one of 35 species placed in the genus Pterodroma that was introduced in 1856 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte .[ 8] [ 9] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek pteron meaning "wing" with dromos meaning "racer" or "runner". The specific epithet alba is from Latin albus meaning "white".[ 10] The species is monotypic : no subspecies are recognised.[ 9]
References
^ BirdLife International (2022). "Pterodroma alba " . IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2022 : e.T22698001A183088698. Retrieved 26 July 2022 .
^ a b Loomis, Leverett Mills (January 1920). "On Procellaria alba Gmelin" (PDF) . The Auk . 38 (1): 88–91. doi :10.2307/4072962 . JSTOR 4072962 .
^ a b Streets, Thomas H. (1877). "Contributions to the Natural History of the Hawaiian and Fanning Islands and Lower California" . Bulletin of the United States National Museum . Bulletin of the United States National Museum, Issue 7 . Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution . p. 30.
^ Sharpe, Richard, ed. (1896). Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum: Gaviæ and Tubinares . London, UK: British Museum of Natural History. p. 405 .
^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 565.
^ Latham, John (1785). A General Synopsis of Birds . Vol. 3, Part 2. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 400, No. 6.
^ Mayr, Ernst ; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World . Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 71–72.
^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1856). "Espèces nouvelles d'oiseaux d'Asie et d'Amérique, et tableaux paralléliques des Pélagiens ou Gaviae" . Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French). 42 : 764–776 [768].
^ a b Gill, Frank ; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela , eds. (August 2022). "Petrels, albatrosses" . IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 . International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 November 2022 .
^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . London: Christopher Helm. pp. 322 , 37 . ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
Further reading
External links
Pterodroma alba Procellaria alba