Hi Tony,
I would be interested to know who your source is as being the only living
person to have seen the species in "the wild" (lying dead on the Pacific
Highway, north of Port Macquarie, NSW!!) I have the opposite view. I am
presuming that the 1927 American Museum of Natural History Expedition
members, who collected the only other known specimens off Vanuatu, have
passed on. I am also not sure of the veracity of the claim that one was
observed from a ship in a harbour in Vanuatu but I was led to believe that
it was not confirmed.
The roadkilled/storm blown specimen that I collected in 1983 north of Port
Macquarie is still the only confirmed record of the Vanuatu Petrel in
Australia. A recent injured bird cared for by WIRES appears to be a
White-necked Petrel on measurement, although this is being confirmed as the
specimen is being forwarded to the Australian Museum. The only other
specimens that have been collected in Australia, two in the Ballina, NSW
area, and I understand a couple in south-eastern Queensland, are all
White-necked Petrels Pterodroma cervicalis. So on balance it would appear
that most specimens observed off the NSW/Queensland coast would be
White-necked but Vanuatu can't be ruled out. The entirely dark grey exposed
primaries ventrally is a Vanuatu character but apparently does occur in some
White-necked Petrels. Size is the best distinguishing character but this is
difficult (? impossible) to tell in the field.
If anyone has different slant on this interesting saga please correct me.
Greg Clancy
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