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Friends of Midway Atoll

Friends of Midway Atoll

Preserving, protecting, and restoring the biological diversity and historic resources of Midway Atollal Wildlife Refuge

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Home/Explore & Learn/Plants & Wildlife/Birds/Bonin Petrel

Bonin Petrel

Scientific name: Pterodroma hypoleuca

Photo credit: Rob Shallenberger
  • Life Span: > 15 years
  • Wingspan: 63-71 cm (25-28 in)
  • Breeding Ecology:
    • 1 egg/clutch, 1 egg/year
    • Burrowing seabird (often digs burrows several meters long), philopatric (returns to nest in the same area year after year)
    • Chicks hatch in March and fledge by June
  • Breeds in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Volcano and Bonin Islands; fossils on Moloka‘i, O‘ahu, and Kaua‘i
  • Midway population estimated at around 500,000 individuals in the late 1930s;  introduction of rats in 1940s caused numbers to plummet to fewer than 5,000 birds by the 1980s. After rat eradication, the population is now estimated to exceed 300,000 individuals. Despite a large breeding population, little is known about this species.
  • This is one of the few Pterodroma petrels that feeds mainly on fish, although squid are also an important food source.
  • Bonin Petrels feed mainly at night and are nocturnally active on their breeding grounds; their eyes possess high levels of rhodopsin, a visual pigment that enhances nocturnal vision.

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Friends of Midway Atoll

17 Katrina Lane
San Anselmo, CA 94960

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