Kerguelen Petrel

Aphrodroma brevirostris (Lesson, RP, 1831)

Kerguelen Petrel, Aphrodroma brevirostris, is a petrel of the Southern Ocean, breeding on islands in the South Atlantic and southern Indian Ocean, including South Georgia, Gough, Inaccessible, Prince Edward, Crozet and Kerguelen. Outside the breeding season it ranges through subantarctic and Antarctic waters north of the pack-ice. It is placed in the family Procellariidae and is the only member of its genus. First described by Lesson in 1831, it nests in burrows on remote islands and visits its colonies at night.

Order

Procellariiformes

Family

Procellariidae — Petrels, Shearwaters, Diving Petrels

Breeding range

Southern Ocean: South Georgia, Gough and Inaccessible (sc Atlantic), Prince Edward (s of South Africa), Crozet (s of Madagascar) and Kerguelen is. (s Indian Ocean)

Nonbreeding range

subantarctic and Antarctic waters n of pack-ice