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The gadfly petrels are seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. These medium to large petrels feed on food items picked from the ocean surface.

The short, sturdy bills of the Pterodroma species in this group, about 35 altogether, are adapted for soft prey taken at the surface; they have twisted intestines for digesting marine animals which have unusual biochemistries.

Their complex wing and face marking are probably for interspecific recognition.

These birds nest in colonies on islands and are pelagic when not breeding. One white egg is laid usually in a burrow or on open ground. They are nocturnal at the breeding colonies.

Species

The taxonomy of the gadfly petrels is being reformed at the moment. Several genera have been split off over time, as they are closer to the procellarine and Puffinus shearwaters. Some subspecies have been raised to full species rank. The arrangement given here is traditional, but annotates the changes proposed by Austin (1998) and Bretagnolle et al. (1998). For the current taxonomy, see also Brooke (2004).

Genus Pterodroma

• Barau's Petrel, Pterodroma baraui
• Trinidade Petrel, Pterodroma arminjoniana
  • Herald Petrel, Pterodroma (arminjoniana) heraldica
• Juan Fernandez Petrel, Pterodroma externa
• Kermadec Petrel, Pterodroma neglecta
• Galapagos Petrel, Pterodroma phaeopygia
• Hawaiian Petrel, Pterodroma sandwichensis
• Henderson Petrel, Pterodroma atrata
• Phoenix Petrel, Pterodroma alba
• Fea's Petrel, Pterodroma feae
• Zino's Petrel or Madeira Petrel, Pterodroma madeira
• Canary Islands Petrel, Pterodroma sp. (prehistoric) - possibly extirpated population of extant species
• Soft-plumaged Petrel, Pterodroma mollis
• Bermuda Petrel, Pterodroma cahow
• Black-capped Petrel, Pterodroma hasitata
• Jamaica Petrel, Pterodroma caribbaea (probably extinct)
• Atlantic Petrel, Pterodroma incerta
• White-headed Petrel, Pterodroma lessonii
• Magenta Petrel, Pterodroma magentae
• Great-winged Petrel, Pterodroma macroptera
• Providence Petrel, Pterodroma solandri
• Murphy's Petrel, Pterodroma ultima
• Mottled Petrel, Pterodroma inexpectata
• Pycroft's Petrel, Pterodroma pycrofti
• Stejneger's Petrel, Pterodroma longirostris
• Collared Petrel, Pterodroma brevipes
• Gould's Petrel, Pterodroma leucoptera
• Mangareva Petrel, Pterodroma cf. leucoptera (possibly extinct)
• Cook's Petrel, Pterodroma cookii
• Mas a Tierra Petrel, Pterodroma defilippiana
• Bonin Petrel, Pterodroma hypoleuca
• White-necked Petrel, Pterodroma cervicalis
• Falla's Petrel, Pterodroma occulta
• Black-winged Petrel, Pterodroma nigripennis
• Chatham Petrel, Pterodroma axillaris
• Chatham Extinct Petrel, Pterodroma sp. (prehistoric)
• Henderson Island Petrel, Pterodroma sp. (prehistoric)
• O‘ahu Petrel, Pterodroma jugabilis (prehistoric)

Now Lugensa (allied to Puffinus)

• Kerguelen Petrel, Pterodroma brevirostris

Now Pseudobulweria (allied to Puffinus)

• Fiji Petrel Pterodroma macgillivrayi
• Tahiti Petrel, Pterodroma rostrata
• Beck's Petrel, Pterodroma becki
• Mascarene Petrel, Pterodroma aterrima
• St Helena Petrel, Pterodroma rupinarum (extinct)

References

• Austin, Jeremy J. (1996): Molecular Phylogenetics of Puffinus Shearwaters: Preliminary Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 6(1): 77–88 doi:10.1006/mpev.1996.0060 (HTML abstract)
• Bretagnolle, V., Attié, C., Pasquet, E., (1998) "Cytochrome-B evidence for validity and phylogenetic relationships of Pseudobulweria and Bulweria (Procellariidae)" Auk 115(1):188-195 PDf fulltext
• Brooke, M. (2004): Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. ISBN 0-19-850125-0

• Pterodroma
• Genera of birds