Add Pterodroma
macroptera (Great-winged Petrel) to main list
Proposal
(476) to South American Classification Committee
Effect on
South American CL: This transfers a species from the Hypothetical List to the Main List.
Background: The Hypothetical List
currently summarizes the situation as follows:
"There are probably only sight
records for this species in South America”. Concerning records from Brazil the following was
written: “Teixeira et al. (1985) showed that the two reported
specimens from Brazil were actually Puffinus griseus, leaving
only sight reports from Brazil”.
Published
photographic record from Fernando de Noronha Island, Brazil: According to Bugoni
(2006) on 20 March 2004 a female was found stranded on the beach near Albardão
lighthouse, Rio Grande do Sul (33o09’S, 52o39’W). This specimen was photographed (figure 1 on the paper) and then taxidermized and deposited in a regional collection. (Fundação Universidade
Federal do Rio Grande bird collection nr. 360). Measurements (in mm) of the
specimen are: culmen 39.1, bill width at base 15.3, tarsus 43.5, total length
400, wing 323, wingspan 1,060, tail 125, and body mass 385 g.
This specimen represents the first documented record
for the southwest Atlantic north of Argentina (Bugoni 2006) and the first
specimen for South America.
Literature
Cited:
BUGONI, L. 2006. Great-winged Petrel Pterodroma macroptera in
Brazil. Bulletin of British Ornithologists´ Club 126(1): 52-54
TEIXEIRA, D. M., NACINOVIC, J. B. &
NOVELLI, R. 1985. Notes on some Brazilian seabirds. Bulletin of British
Ornithologists´ Club 105: 49–51.
José Fernando Pacheco & Carlos
Eduardo Agne, Dec. 2010
Comments from Stiles: “YES. Photographic and specimen evidence seem conclusive.”
Comments from Robbins: “YES. Nice to finally have a specimen that is unequivocally of this species.”
Comments from Nores: “YES. The photo by Bugoni (2006) clearly
shows that it belongs to this species. In Argentina, this petrel was cited for the
first time by Salvin in 1896 (Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. XXV: 395) in
Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, and later by Dabbene (1910-1921), Steullet and
Deautier (1935), Zotta (1944), and Olrog (1959, 1963, 1979, 1984), who
indicated in his last publication (Guía de las aves de Argentina) that it is a
regular visitor to the Argentine shores. Also by Canevari et al. (1991).
However, later authors (Narosky and Yzurieta 1987, 2010 and Mazar Barnett and
Pearman 2001) do not include this species among the Argentine birds.”
Comments from Zimmer: “YES. Photo and specimen demands addition of
this species to our list (and one more bird to deal with in the Field Guide to
the Birds of Brazil!).”
Comments from Remsen:
“YES. Just to make sure on
the ID, I asked Steve Howell to take a look at the paper, and he says it is
correctly identified if measurements correct. I also asked Stephen F. Bailey, who replied: “It does look like Pterodroma
macroptera to me. The single photo is not everything that I would
like to see, but it seems to show the large bill and all-dark plumage of this
species, including no pale in the face. The measurements also help
confirm the species; as the author wrote, all the other all-dark gadfly petrels
are smaller in most or all measurements, and the specific measurements of the
specimen in question do fit this species. The large, particularly robust bill
in the photo looks especially typical of Pterodroma
macroptera, but with the plumage messed up post-mortem there is a chance of
misjudging something like bill size in a photo, so it's good to have the
measurements.”