Pseudobulweria sp., 1936

Bishop, K. David, 2023, The avifauna of Biak Island, Papua, Indonesia with comments on status, conservation, natural history and taxonomy, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 143 (1), pp. 3-62 : 21

[PETREL Pseudobulweria sp. ]

Ripley stated ‘In November, these birds were seen off Biak…’ ( Mayr & Meyer de Schauensee 1939), which he listed as Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata . On 5 July 2017 D. Lopez-Velasco (in litt. 2021) photographed a Tahiti / Beck’s Petrel over deep water between Biak and Numfor ( Fig. 5 ). Unfortunately, the images are insufficient to determine whether they pertain to the relatively common Tahiti Petrel P. rostrata or the extremely little-known Beck’s Petrel P. becki ( Shirihai 2008) .

Figures

Figure 5. Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata or Beck’s Petrel P. becki, between Biak and Numfor, 5 July 2017 (© Daniel Lopez-Velasco)