Order
Procellariiformes
Family
Procellariidae
Genus
Pterodroma
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Bermuda Petrel Pterodroma cahow

Edward S. Brinkley and Kate E. Sutherland
Version: 1.0 — Published July 21, 2017

Diet and Foraging

Diet

Very little published information. Green excreta at nest sites suggest that small squid make up part of the diet during the chick-rearing period, and pink excreta indicate that pelagic shrimp are also commonly taken (Murphy and Mowbray 1951; D. B. Wingate, in litt.). Stomach contents of a fledgling female Bermuda Petrel received by William Beebe 8 June 1935 were examined by Robert Cushman Murphy, who noted "17 beaks of cephalopods as well as several crystalline lenses of the same organisms" (Murphy and Mowbray 1951).

Foraging Behavior

Presumably feeds by seizing prey at or just beneath the surface, as do other species of gadfly petrels, though direct observation of foraging Bermuda Petrels has not been reported.

Recommended Citation

Brinkley, E. S. and K. E. Sutherland (2017). Bermuda Petrel (Pterodroma cahow), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.berpet.01