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Australian Wildlife

  Bulwer's Petrel (Bulweria bulwerii)





Bulwer's Petrel | Bulweria bulwerii photo
Bulweria bulwerii on SS Midway after storm at Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals

Image by Forest & Kim Starr - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Bulwer's Petrel | Bulweria bulwerii photo
Bulwer's Petrel, during breeding study, Tern Island, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Image by angrysunbird / Duncan - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Bulwer's Petrel | Bulweria bulwerii photo
Bulwer's Petrel, Tern Island, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Image by angrysunbird / Duncan - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







BULWER'S PETREL FACTS

Description
Bulwer's Petrel is a dark brown seabird. It has long wings and a long tail that tapers to a point. The wings have lighter brown. It is named after James Bulwer, an English naturalist, who brought back a specimen of the bird from Madeira Islands in 19th century. It is usually a solitary bird when at sea.

Size
25cm - 29cm

Habitat
usually found at sea in tropical and subtropical waters. During the breeding season it comes on shore to tropical islands to nest

Food
fish and squid and other marine life that it catches from the ocean surface.

Breeding
It breeds in colonies on tropical islands. The nest is protected in a crevice or burrow or under plant cover.

Range
Bulwer's Petrel is found in tropical waters around the world. It breeds on Pacific islands, and also on islands of the north Atlantic. It has been seen in waters off tropical Western Australia and is a vagrant to Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

distribution map showing range of Bulweria bulwerii in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Procellariiformes
Family:Procellariidae
Genus:Bulweria
Species:bulwerii
Common Name:Bulwer's Petrel