Kermadec Petrel

It breeds in the Pacific Ocean from Lord Howe Island to the Juan Fernández Islands. Rarely is the Kermadec petrel recorded west of Lord Howe Island, where it maintains a small colony of less than 100 individuals on Balls Pyramid. In the past it also bred in some numbers on the main islands, however, this is seen as unlikely today. The Kermadec Islands are the only place in New Zealand where this species breeds, including on the following islands of the archipelago: Nugent, Napier, Meyer, Dayrell, North Chanter, Macauley, Haszard and Cheeseman Islands. Due to predation by cats and rats, it no longer breeds on Raoul Island, where in 1908 it had an estimated population of c. 500,000 individuals. Not much is known of the bird's breeding pattern at Balls Pyramid, however, it usually nests there in late summer. This coincides with the breeding patterns of other birds in the Kermadec Islands. The larger of its two subspecies, P. n. juana, also breeds on Round Island, off Mauritius, where it may sometimes hybridise with the Trindade petrel. The species is a vagrant in Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, and it is thought to vagrate poleward in response to warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures, suggesting that it may be expanding its foraging range in response to global warming. …