{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | name = Blue petrel | image = Halobaena caerulea in flight - SE Tasmania.jpg | image_caption = Dorsal plumage | image2 = Blue Petrel 0A2A9180.jpg | image2_caption = Ventral plumage | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 25 September 2021">{{cite iucn |author1=BirdLife International |date=2020 |title=''Halobaena caerulea'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T22698102A181599271 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22698102A181599271.en |access-date=25 September 2021}}</ref> | genus = Halobaena | parent_authority = Bonaparte, 1856 | species = caerulea | authority = (Gmelin, 1789) | synonyms = * ''Procellaria caerulea''<br /><small>Gmelin 1789</small><ref name=peters>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Peters | editor1-first=James Lee | editor1-link=James Lee Peters | year=1931 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume= 1 | edition=1st | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | pages=47–48 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14478102 }}</ref> * '' Halobaena caerulea victoriae''<small><br />(Mathews 1916)</small><ref name=peters/> * ''Halobaena murphyi''<small><br />(Brooks 1917)</small><ref name=peters/> | range_map = Halobaena caerulea map.svg }} [[File:Halobaena caerulea.jpg|thumb|Holding a blue petrel during a ringing campaign]]
The '''blue petrel''' ('''''Halobaena caerulea''''') is a small seabird in the shearwater and petrel family, Procellariidae. This small petrel is the only member of the genus ''Halobaena'', but is closely allied to the prions. It is distributed across the Southern Ocean but breeds at a few island sites, all close to the Antarctic Convergence zone.
==Taxonomy== The blue petrel was first described in 1777 by the German naturalist Georg Forster in his book ''A Voyage Round the World''. He had accompanied James Cook on Cook's second voyage to the Pacific.<ref name=forster>{{Cite book | last=Forster | first=Georg | author-link=Georg Forster | date=1777 | title=A Voyage Round the World, in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop, Resolution, Commanded by Capt. James Cook, During the Years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 | volume=1 | location=London | publisher=B. White, P. Elmsly, G. Robinson | page=91 | url=https://archive.org/details/b30413849_0001/page/91/mode/1up }}</ref> Forster did not give the blue petrel a binomial name, but when the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin updated Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae'' in 1789 he included a brief description of the bird, coined the binomial name ''Procellaria caerulea'' and cited Forster's book.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume= 1 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=560 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25749938 }}</ref> The blue petrel is now the only species placed in the genus ''Halobaena'' that was introduced for the blue petrel in 1856 by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Bonaparte | first=Charles Lucien | author-link=Charles Lucien Bonaparte | year=1856 | title=Espèces nouvelles d'oiseaux d'Asie et d'Amérique, et tableaux paralléliques des Pélagiens ou Gaviae | language=French | journal=Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences | volume=42 | pages=764–776 [768] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/1212582 }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Petrels, albatrosses | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/petrels/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=1 January 2022 }}</ref> The name ''Halobaena'' combines the Ancient Greek {{Lang|grc-Latn|hals}}, {{Lang|grc-Latn|halos}} meaning "sea" with {{Lang|grc-Latn|bainō}} meaning "to tread". The specific epithet ''caerulea'' is from Latin {{Lang|la|caeruleus}} meaning "blue".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n82/mode/1up 82], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n185/mode/1up 185]}}</ref> The word "petrel" is derived from Saint Peter and the story of his walking on water. This is in reference to the petrel's habit of appearing to run on the water to take off.<ref name="Gotch">Gotch, A. T. (1995)</ref> The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<ref name=ioc/>
The blue petrel is a member of the order Procellariiformes. It shares certain identifying features with the rest of the order. First, it has nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. The bills of Procellariiformes are unique in that they are split into between 7 and 9 horny plates. It also produces a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy-rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.<ref>Double, M. C. (2003)</ref> Finally, it also has a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate its body, due to the high amount of ocean water it drinks. It excretes a high-saline solution from their nose.<ref>Ehrlich, Paul R. (1988)</ref>
==Description== The blue petrel's plumage is predominantly blue-grey, with a dark "M" extending across the upperwing from wingtip to wingtip. It has a prominent black cap and white cheeks. It is white below apart from dark patches at the side of the neck. The square tail has a white tip. It has a slender black bill. It is {{cvt|26|-|32|cm}} in length, has a wing span of {{cvt|62|-|71|cm}} and weighs approximate {{cvt|200|g}}.<ref name=hanzab>{{cite book | year=1990 | chapter=''Halobaena caerulea'' Blue Petrel | editor1-last=Marchant | editor1-first=S. | editor2-last=Higgins | editor2-first=P.G. | title=Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Volume 1: Ratites to ducks; Part A, Ratites to petrels | location=Melbourne, Victoria | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-553068-1 | pages=508–515 | chapter-url=https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/sites/all/files/086_Blue%20Petrel.pdf | archive-date=2024-03-30 | access-date=2022-01-01 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330100405/https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/sites/all/files/086_Blue%20Petrel.pdf }}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== The blue petrel inhabits the southern oceans ranging as far north as South Africa, Australia and portions of South America. They mostly only breed in a narrow latitudinal band from 47° to 56° S on either side of the Antarctic Polar Front, nesting on subantarctic islands, such as the Diego Ramírez Islands, the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island, South Georgia, and Prince Edward Island.<ref name=hanzab/>
In 2014, a breeding colony was discovered on Gough Island (40° S, 10° W), central South Atlantic Ocean, more than 700 km north of its known and usual breeding range. Breeding here appears to take place later than at colonies farther south, so although the discovery is recent it does not necessarily represent a recent range extension.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Ryan | first1=P.G. | last2=Dilley | first2=B.J. | last3=Jones | first3=C. | last4=Bond | first4=A.L. | date=2015 | title=Blue Petrels ''Halobaena caerulea'' discovered breeding on Gough Island | journal=Ostrich | volume=86 | issue=1–2 | pages=193–194 | doi=10.2989/00306525.2015.1005558| bibcode=2015Ostri..86..193R | s2cid=86699478 }}</ref>
==Behaviour== ===Feeding=== The blue petrel feeds predominantly on krill, as well as other crustaceans, small fish, squid and occasionally insects.<ref name=hanzab/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Prince |first=P. A. |date=1980 |title=The food and feeding ecology of Blue petrel (Halobaena caerulea) and Dove prion (Pachyptila desolata) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1980.tb01423.x |journal=Journal of Zoology |language=en |volume=190 |issue=1 |pages=59–76 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1980.tb01423.x |issn=1469-7998|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It can dive to a depth of up to {{cvt|6.2|m}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chastel |first1=Olivier |last2=Bried |first2=Joel |date=1996 |title=Diving Ability of Blue Petrels and Thin-Billed Prions |url=https://sora.unm.edu/node/2309 |url-access=subscription |journal=The Condor |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=627–629 |bibcode=1996Condo..98..627C |doi=10.2307/1369575 |jstor=1369575}}</ref>
===Breeding=== thumb|upright=0.7|A blue petrel egg
The blue petrel, like all members of the Procellariiformes, is colonial, and has large colonies. It nests in a burrow, and lays one egg per breeding attempt. Both parents incubate the egg for approximately 50 days, and the chick fledges after 55 days. Skuas are the main danger for their eggs and chicks.
==Conservation status== The blue petrel has a very large range and an estimated population of 3,000,000 adult birds, and thus it is rated as Least Concern by the IUCN.<ref name="iucn status 25 September 2021" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite encyclopedia |last=Double |first=M. C. |editor1-first=Michael |editor1-last=Hutchins |editor2-first=Jerome A. |editor2-last=Jackson |editor3-first=Walter J. |editor3-last=Bock |editor4-first=Donna |editor4-last=Olendorf |year=2003 |encyclopedia=Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia |title=Procellariiformes (Tubenosed Seabirds) |edition=2nd |volume=8: ''Birds I: Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins'' |others=Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator |location=Farmington Hills, MI |publisher=Gale Group |isbn=978-0-7876-5784-0 |pages=107–111}} * {{cite book |last1=Ehrlich |first1=Paul R. |last2=Dobkin |first2=David S.|last3=Wheye |first3=Darryl |year=1988 |title=The Birders Handbook |edition=First |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |pages=[https://archive.org/details/birdershandbookf00ehrl_0/page/29 29]–31|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/birdershandbookf00ehrl_0 |isbn=978-0-671-65989-9}} * {{cite book |last1=Gotch |first1=A. F. |title=Latin Names Explained A Guide to the Scientific Classifications of Reptiles, Birds & Mammals |year=1995 |orig-date=1979 |publisher=Facts on File |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8160-3377-5 |pages=191–192|chapter=Albatrosses, Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/blue-petrel-halobaena-caerulea Blue petrel on Birdlife International] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120609213146/http://zipcodezoo.com/Key/Animalia/Halobaena_Genus.asp Blue petrel on ZipcodeZoo] * [http://www.kiwifoto.com/galleries/birds/blue_petrel/ Blue petrel Photos] * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20010309125937/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/1103800.htm Stamps]}} (for French Southern and Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands) * [https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/blupet1/cur/introduction Blue petrel videos] on the Internet Bird Collection * [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=blue+petrel&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Blue petrel photo gallery] VIREO <!-- For South America, a decent RangeMap/maps, lists, etc. are at: "www.natureserve.org"-(the countries/regions listed are: Chile (Tierra del Fuego), Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and the Falkland Islands-->
{{Austrodyptornithes|P.|state=collapsed}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q883092}}
Category:Birds described in 1789 Category:Birds of islands of the Atlantic Ocean Category:Birds of New Zealand Category:Birds of Patagonia Category:Birds of South Australia Category:Birds of Southern Africa Category:Birds of subantarctic islands Category:Birds of the Falkland Islands Category:Birds of the Indian Ocean Category:Birds of the Southern Ocean Category:Birds of Tierra del Fuego Category:Birds of Western Australia Category:Birds of Macquarie Island Category:Fauna of the Crozet Islands Category:Fauna of the Prince Edward Islands Category:Petrels Category:Procellariidae Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin