Figures 47, 48 (top, bottom). Despite good photographs—such as these of a bird present on 15 July 2000 at Cordell Bank in Marin County—the Committee has been unable to determine the specific identity of any of the 13 “Dark-rumped” Petrels recorded in California (2000-101; Erik W. Preston).

 

 

 

 

GALAPAGOS PETREL/HAWAIIAN PETREL
Pterodroma phaeopygia (Salvin, 1876)/Pterodroma sandwichensis Ridgway, 1884

Accepted: 13 (81%)	Treated in Appendix H: yes
Not accepted: 3	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 1	Color image: page H-13

Before being split because of differences in vocalizations and morphology (Banks et al. 2002), these two species were known collectively as the Dark-rumped Petrel (P. phaeopygia). The birds nest in burrows at high elevations within their namesake archipelagos, and the species are generally thought to be inseparable at sea. Hawaiian Petrels range at sea well northeast of their breeding range (Spear et al. 1995), and Galapagos Petrels have been recorded north to Clipperton Atoll (AOU 1998).

Birds of this species pair were only recently documented in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, including California’s first record on 3 May 1992 far off Pt. Reyes, Marin County. Ten of the state’s 13 accepted occurrences come from summer/early fall (26 June–24 August), and the remaining three are from spring (28 April–9 May); see also Appendix H. Individuals were also recorded more than 200 nautical miles off Oregon and California on 19 October 1986 and 2 August 1991 (Pyle et al. 1993).

Citing analyses by Spear et al. (1995), Howell and Pyle (1997) suggested that Hawaiian Petrels are perhaps more likely to reach California waters. Subsequently, Roberson (2002) tentatively concluded that all California records involve Hawaiian Petrels. The Committee maintains that inadequate information currently exists to support a firm conclusion about the species involved in any of these records.