Tristram's storm petrel

Tristram's storm petrel or ʻakihikeʻehiʻale^[2] (Hydrobates tristrami) is a species of seabird in the storm petrel family Hydrobatidae. The species' common and scientific name is derived from the English clergyman Henry Baker Tristram; the species can also be known as the sooty storm petrel. Tristram's storm petrel has a distribution across the north Pacific Ocean, predominantly in tropical seas.

Tristram's storm petrel
Photographed on Nihoa Island
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Procellariiformes
Family:	Hydrobatidae
Genus:	Hydrobates
Species:	H. tristrami
Binomial name
Hydrobates tristrami (Salvin, 1896)
Synonyms
Oceanodroma tristrami

This storm petrel has long, angular wings. This is likely the largest member of the storm petrel family, with a total length 24.5 to 27 cm (9.6 to 10.6 in), a wingspan of 54 to 57 cm (21 to 22 in) and a body mass of 71 to 120 g (2.5 to 4.2 oz) with average weights of 86.2 and 92 g (3.04 and 3.25 oz).^[3][4] Its plumage is all over dark with a slightly pale rump and a pale grey bar on the upper wing. The bill is stout as this is a species which feeds on small cephalopods.^[5] The species is colonial, nesting in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, and in several small islands south of Japan, including the Bonin Islands and Izu. Colonies are attended at night, and the species breeds during the winter. At sea, the species is pelagic, feeding on squid and fish.

Tristram's storm petrel is considered near threatened. All of its breeding colonies in Hawaii are protected areas, but the species has undergone declines in the past due to introduced rats on Torishima Island.

In the early 21st century, the Tristam's storm petrel were included in a study of plastic ingestion by birds, at Tern Island in the French Frigate Shoals.^[6]

The species is named after Reverend Henry Baker Tristram, who also collected natural history specimens.^[7]

Taxonomy

The holotype specimen of Oceanodroma tristrami Salvin (Cat.Bds.Brit.Mus., 25,1896, p.347) is held in the vertebrate zoology collection of World Museum, National Museums Liverpool, with accession number NML-VZ T9781.^[8] The specimen was collected by Lieutenant Gunn at Sendai Bay, Japan, July 1874, and came to the Liverpool national collection through the purchase of Henry Baker Tristram's collection. It was formerly defined in the genus Oceanodroma before that genus was synonymized with Hydrobates.^[9]

References

1. BirdLife International (2019). "Hydrobates tristrami". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22698535A155161970. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22698535A155161970.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. Gregg, Jason (12 May 2021). "Decolonizing Seabirds". Hakai Magazine. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
3. Howell, S. N. (2012). Petrels, albatrosses, and storm-petrels of North America. Princeton University Press.
4. Dunning, John B. Jr., ed. (2008). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses (2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-6444-5.
5. Harrison, P.; Perrow, M.; Larsson, H. (2021). Seabirds: The New Identification Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. 1-600 (370).
6. "OBIS-SEAMAP Dataset - Tern Island Albatrosses - 1999".
7. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 342–343.
8. R. Wagstaffe (1978-12-01). Type Specimens of Birds in the Merseyside County Museums (formerly City of Liverpool Museums).
9. "Taxonomic Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-07-29.

• Brooke, M. (2004). Albatrosses And Petrels Across The World Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK ISBN 0-19-850125-0