All species › Tubenoses › Petrels, shearwaters and diving petrels › Westland Petrel
Westland Petrel | Procellaria westlandica
Westlandstormvogel | Pardela de Westland | Pardela-de-westland
The Westland Petrel breeds only in the coastal hills near Punakaiki on the South Island of New Zealand, during the austral winter. After the breeding season many birds cross the Pacific to the waters off South America. In the guide area it is a scarce visitor far offshore.
Voice
Silent at sea. At the breeding sites it gives cackling and wailing calls at night.
Recording: David Boyle — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
50–55 cm, a large, all blackish-brown petrel with a stout, pale horn-coloured bill with a black tip, and black legs. The underwing is dark, sometimes with a silvery sheen at the base of the primaries. It flies with slow, powerful wingbeats and long glides, in strong wind in high arcs over the water. The sexes are alike; juveniles resemble adults.
Confusion species
White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis is very similar but has an entirely pale, greenish-yellow bill without a black tip and often a white chin; always check the bill tip. Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni is smaller and slimmer, with a smaller, dark-tipped bill, and flies more lightly. Sooty Shearwater Ardenna grisea is smaller, with a slender dark bill and a silvery-white underwing. Young giant petrels Macronectes are much larger, with a much heavier bill.
Habitat
Open ocean, mainly over and beyond the edge of the continental shelf, sometimes closer inshore at fishing boats. It feeds on fish, squid and fish waste, often from fishing vessels, making shallow dives. It breeds in colonies in burrows on forested slopes in the coastal hills of New Zealand.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Peru a scarce visitor far offshore, mainly in the austral summer. There are few data for Ecuador. No confirmed records from Colombia, Bolivia or the Galápagos. It does not breed in the guide area. Outside the guide area it breeds only near Punakaiki in New Zealand; outside the breeding season mainly off the coast of Chile and Peru and in the Tasman Sea.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
On pelagic trips far off Peru in the austral summer; check every large dark petrel at fishing boats for a black bill tip.
Conservation status
Endangered. The world population is small and breeds at a single site, which makes the species vulnerable to storm damage, landslides and introduced predators. Bycatch in fisheries is an important threat.
Scientific name
Procellaria westlandica | Falla, 1946
Falla described the species in 1946 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Procellaria was introduced in 1758 by Linnaeus. The genus name comes from Latin procella, 'storm, gale'. The species name refers to Westland, a region of the South Island of New Zealand. The specimen the first description was based on came from Barrytown, Westland, New Zealand.