About Pterodroma macroptera (A.Smith, 1840)
Pterodroma macroptera (A.Smith, 1840), commonly called the great-winged petrel, is a large seabird that measures 42–45 cm in body length. Its entire plumage is dark brown, with the exception of a variable white patch near the base of its black bill. It can be distinguished from the sooty shearwater and short-tailed shearwater by its all-dark underwing, thick stubby bill, and different overall body shape and flight characteristics (jizz). The similar flesh-footed shearwater has a light, pinkish bill, while petrels in the genus Procellaria are larger and have a less bounding flight. Great-winged petrels breed in the Southern Hemisphere between 30 and 50 degrees south, with breeding colonies on Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island, the Crozet Islands, the Prince Edward Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, and along the coasts of southern Australia. It is a rare vagrant to the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, United States. This species feeds mostly on squid, and to a lesser degree on fish and crustaceans. It typically catches prey at night by dipping and surface-seizing. Great-winged petrels will occasionally follow whales and associate with other related bird species to feed. Breeding takes place in the southern winter, starting in April. Nests are built either solitarily or in small colonies, located in burrows or aboveground among boulders or low vegetation.
