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Blue Petrels Halobaena caerulea discovered breeding on Gough Island§


Peter G Ryan
Ben J Dilley
Christopher Jones
Alexander L Bond

Abstract

The Blue Petrel Halobaena caerulea breeds at five subantarctic island groups and at islands off southern Chile in a narrow latitudinal band from 47° to 56° S on either side of the Antarctic Polar Front. We found a colony on Gough Island (40° S, 10° W), central South Atlantic Ocean, more than 700 km north of its known breeding range. Breeding appears to take place later than at colonies farther south. Although the colony is in a fairly frequently visited part of the island, it might have been overlooked rather than representing a recent range extension.


Keywords: Blue Petrel, Gough Island, northward expansion, subantarctic


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1727-947X
print ISSN: 0030-6525