Matsudaira's Storm Petrel

Hydrobates matsudairae (Kuroda, Nm, 1922)

Matsudaira's Storm Petrel, Hydrobates matsudairae, is a seabird of the Hydrobatidae family that breeds in the Volcano Islands of Japan, on Kita-Iwojima and Minami-Iwojima, and ranges widely outside the breeding season across the Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific. It is found from western Micronesia through seas east of the Indonesian archipelago, north-west of Australia, to the Chagos Archipelago, the Arabian Sea, Seychelles and the waters off eastern Africa. It is recognised by blackish alula feathers, pale bases to the dark primaries, a long deeply forked tail and a long hooked bill.

Order

Procellariiformes

Family

Hydrobatidae — Northern Storm Petrels

Breeding range

Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean: Kita-Iwojima and Minami-Iwojima (Iwo=Volcano Is., s of Ogasawara=Bonin Is., s of Japan)

Nonbreeding range

w Micronesia through seas of e Indonesian Arch., nw of Australia to Chagos Arch. (s of Maldives), Arabian Sea, Seychelles, and off e African coast