Barau's petrel (Pterodroma baraui ) is a medium-sized gadfly petrel from the family Procellariidae. Its main breeding site is the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
The name commemorates Armand Barau, an agricultural engineer and ornithologist from the French territory of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. It is one of the most recently discovered species of seabird and was only described in 1964, although it was known to local people prior to that.
A piscivore is a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. Piscivorous is equivalent to the Greek-derived word ichthyophagous. Fish were the die...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct ...
Soaring birds can maintain flight without wing flapping, using rising air currents. Many gliding birds are able to "lock" their extended wings by m...
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, b...
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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starts withBarau's petrel is around 40 cm long, and has white undersides and forehead. Its bill is black and its upper parts are dark, with a moderately distinct "M" pattern across the wings and back.
Barau's petrel ranges across the Indian Ocean from Réunion to Western Australia and Indonesia. With the exception of a single nest found on the island of Rodrigues the bulk of the population is thought to nest on Réunion.
The petrels are highly pelagic at sea, preying on small fish (10 cm) by surface-seizing and plunge diving. They will associate with other species while feeding.
Their colonies are unusual in being far inland and at high elevations; they dig burrows under the forest at around 2,400-2,700m above sea level. The breeding biology of the species has not been studied but it is inferred that they have a 55-day incubation period and take around 100–120 days to fledge a chick. Unlike most burrow nesting procellariids, Barau's petrels begin to return to their colonies diurnally, returning in the late afternoon and riding the thermal updrafts to conserve energy. The chicks fledge between November and February. Sites which have been identified by BirdLife International as being important for the conservation of the species include the Grand Bénard – Tapcal and Piton des Neiges – Gros Morne Important Bird Areas (IBAs) on Réunion where breeding colonies exist.
Barau's petrel is considered to be an endangered species. It has a highly restricted breeding range and has suffered hunting pressure in the past. While the shooting of the species has now been stopped, and the population seems to have recovered, it is currently threatened by introduced species and light pollution. Young birds, particularly fledglings, are disorientated by artificial lights such as streetlights or the floodlights of sporting venues, which they mistake for bioluminescent squid, and lead them to fail reach the sea. It is estimated that as much as 40% of each breeding season's fledglings get confused in this fashion. Conservation organisations work with local people to catch disorientated chicks and release them back at sea, a program that is thought to rescue most of the lost chicks. Measures are also underway to reduce light pollution by shielding light sources so that they don't attract young birds, a method that has been used to help Newell's shearwaters in Hawaii.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...