Murphy's Petrel

Pterodroma ultimaOrder: PROCELLARIIFORMESFamily: Petrels and Shearwaters (Procellariidae)

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Murphy's Petrel

Murphy's Petrel: Large petrel, overall gray or gray-brown body and pale throat. Underwings have pale bars. Legs and feet are pale, toes have black distal webbing. Bill is black. Feeds on squid and crustaceans. Swift flight, alternates several rapid wing beats with long glides. Does not follow ships.

● Song: Generally silent

● Foraging & Feeding: Murphy's Petrel: Eats squid and crustaceans; forages in flight, snatching prey at or near the water surface.

● Breeding & nesting: Murphy's Petrel: One white egg is laid in a burrow excavated by both parents. Incubation ranges from 50 to 54 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Murphy's Petrel: Herald Petrel Dark Morph lacks white at the base of the bill. Dark-rumped Petrel has white on face, throat, and breast.

Flight Pattern

Swift flight., Alternates several rapid stiff wing beats with long glides., Soaring arcs.

● Range & Habitat: Murphy's Petrel: Breeds in the Pitcairn Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Austral Islands, and the Gambier Islands. Seen annually far offshore, along the Pacific coast of Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington. Pelagic, only comes ashore to breed.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationRare

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight12.7 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America
Bird name:

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Murphy's Petrel

Murphy's Petrel

Flight Pattern