The Desertas petrel (''Pterodroma deserta'') is a small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus which breeds on
Bugio Island
Bugio Island ( pt, Ilha do Bugio) — is one of the three islands of the Portuguese Desertas Islands archipelago, a small chain of islands in the Madeira Islands Archipelago
of Macaronesia.
It is located in the Atlantic Ocean off the western coa ...
in the
Desertas
The Desertas Islands ( pt, Ilhas Desertas, , "Deserted Islands") are a small archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the larger Portuguese Madeira Archipelago.
The archipelago is located off the coast of Morocco. Deserta Grande Island is loca ...
off
Madeira
)
, anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira")
, song_type = Regional anthem
, image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg
, map_alt=Location of Madeira
, map_caption=Location of Madeira
, subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
. The gadfly petrels in the genus ''Pterodroma'' are seabirds of temperate and tropical oceans. Many are little-known, and their often similar appearance have caused the taxonomy of the group to be rather fluid.
Although the systematics on this species has not yet been definitively established, provisionally some authorities have split the Desertas petrel, separating the Desertas breeding birds from those in the
Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
archipelago,
while others consider it a subspecies of the
Fea's petrel
The Fea's petrel (''Pterodroma feae'') is a small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, '' Pterodroma''. It was previously considered to be a subspecies of the soft-plumaged petrel (''P. mollis''), but they are actually not closely related at al ...
. The species is named after its breeding grounds, which are pronounced "Dez-ERT-ass".
Description
As all three of the species in the ''Pterodroma feae/
madeira
)
, anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira")
, song_type = Regional anthem
, image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg
, map_alt=Location of Madeira
, map_caption=Location of Madeira
, subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
/desertae'' complex were once believed to be subspecies of a single species: ''Pterodroma mollis'', the extreme difficulty in telling them apart is easily understood. A summary of data from a morphological study sheds light on the issue:
* In overall size ''feae'' is closer to ''deserta'' and both are bigger than ''madeira'' (wing length - ''f'':262, ''d'': 264, ''m'': 248; tarsus - ''f'':34.7, ''d'': 35.2, ''m'': 32.7).
* Bill length once again similar in ''feae'' and ''deserta'' and both larger than ''madeira'' (''f'':29.0, ''d'': 28.6, ''m'': 26.3).
* Bill depth by far biggest in ''deserta'', lowest in ''madeira'', and intermediate in ''feae'' (''f'':11.9, ''d'': 12.9, ''m'': 10.5).
In terms of ratios:
* (Bill length/wing length) (''f'':11.1%, ''d'': 10.8%, ''m'': 10.6%) is rather similar in the three taxa.
* (Bill length/bill depth) (''f'': 2.44, ''d'': 2.22, ''m'': 2.53) is lowest in ''deserta'', and highest in ''madeira''. In ''feae'' it is intermediate, but more than twice closer to ''madeira'' than to ''deserta''.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3412067
Birds of Madeira
Pterodroma
Birds described in 1934
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN