Dark-rumped Petrel

Overview Dark-rumped Petrel: Medium petrel with dark slate-gray upperparts and white underparts. Sides of neck and underwing margins are dark. Bill is relatively short, black, and hooked. Legs and feet are pink-brown. Tail is white and wedge-shaped. Feeds on suqid, crustaceans, and fish. AKA Galapagos Petrel.

Range and Habitat Dark-rumped Petrel: Found only on the Galapagos and Hawaiian Islands. Nests in a variety of environments from rain forests to sub-alpine rocky cliffs and will breed successfully as long as they are protected from predators. Pelagic; comes to land only to breed.

INTERESTING FACTS Current breeding-population estimates from known nest sites on the islands of Maui and Hawai‘i range from 450 to 650 pairs. Dark-rumped Petrels are often called gadfly petrels because of their erratic, swooping flight behavior at sea. It is also known as the Hawaiian Petrel. It is now widely reported that the A.O.U. has voted to split Dark-rumped Petrel into two species: Galapagos Petrel Pterodroma phaeopygia and Hawaiian Petrel P. sandwichensis. A group of petrels are collectively known as a "gallon" and a "tank" of petrels.