Kingdom Animalia Order Procellariiformes Genus Pterodroma Higher classification Gadfly petrel | Phylum Chordata Family Procellariidae Scientific name Pterodroma inexpectata Rank Species | |
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Similar Bird, Gadfly petrel, Cook's petrel, Stejneger's petrel, Buller's shearwater | ||
Mottled petrel out of burrow 023
The mottled petrel (Pterodroma inexpectata) or kōrure is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. The bird is 33–35 cm in size, with a 74–82 cm wingspan.
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This species is highly pelagic, rarely approaching land, except to nest and rear young. The mottled petrel feeds mostly on fish and squid, with some crustaceans taken. It is a transequatorial migrant, breeding in New Zealand and some of the lesser islands, then moving to the Bering Sea, concentrating in the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.
The mottled petrel uses burrows and rock crevices to nest in. It was formerly more numerous than today. The species' numbers have been and continue to be affected by predation by introduced mammals. Chicks have been reintroduced to Maungaharuru, hills 24 km from the sea, in Hawke's Bay.
