The Mascarene petrel (''Pseudobulweria aterrima'') is a medium-sized, dark

petrel Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. Description The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...

. Also sometimes known as the Mascarene black petrel, this species was known from four specimens found in the nineteenth century on the island of

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

. Two birds were found dead in the 1970s, and there have been rare observations of birds in the waters south of Réunion since 1964. It is also known from

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

remains from the island of

Rodrigues Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. Rodr ...

. It is known to breed in very small numbers in the Grand Bassin – Le Dimitile Important Bird Area in the mountains of Réunion. The species is classified as critically endangered as it is inferred from the number of records that there is an extremely small population threatened by

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

, such as

feral cats A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

and house rats, and light pollution.

References

BirdLife International Species Factsheet

References

Further reading