White-faced Storm Petrel

About the White-faced Storm Petrel

The white-faced storm petrel (Pelagodroma marina), (Māori: takahikare) also known as white-faced petrel or frigate petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Pelagodroma. It is widely distributed across the northern and southern hemisphere, especially around the coastal and open ocean waters of southern Australia, New Zealand, Tristan da Cunha, Cabo Verde, the Canary islands and the Selvagens islands.

Here are six recognised subspecies, breeding in island colonies through subtropical to subantarctic regions of the Atlantic, Indian and south-western Pacific Oceans in both hemisphere: P. m. albiclunis Murphy & Irving, 1951 – Kermadec Islands

P. m. dulciae Mathews, 1912 – islands off southern Australia, Houtman Abrolhos in Western Australia, east to the Broughton Islands in New South Wales and Tasmania. P. m. eadesi or eadoserum Bourne, 1953– Cape Verde Islands, within the North Atlantic.

P. m. hypoleuca (Webb, Berthelot & Moquin-Tandon, 1842)– Savage Islands (Selvages Islands) in the North-east Atlantic being the host the majority of the world's population of this subspecies... Wikipedia →