Kingdom Animalia Order Procellariiformes Genus Pterodroma Higher classification Gadfly petrel | Phylum Chordata Family Procellariidae Scientific name Pterodroma caribbaea Rank Species | |
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Similar Bird, Gadfly petrel, Beck's petrel, Collared petrel, De Filippi's petrel | ||
The Jamaican petrel (Pterodroma caribbaea) is (or was) a small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, Pterodroma. It is also known as the Blue Mountain duck. It is related to the black-capped petrel P. hasitata, and often considered a subspecies.
This species was last collected in 1879, and was searched for without success between 1996 and 2000. However, it cannot yet be classified as extinct because nocturnal petrels are notoriously difficult to record, and it may conceivably occur on Dominica and Guadeloupe.
Several species of lice are known to have parasitized the Jamaica and black-capped petrels [1]. If the former is extinct, one of these lice, the phtilopterid Saemundssonia jamaicensis may be coextinct as it has not been found on other birds (May 1990).