Markham's storm petrel (Hydrobates markhami ) is a species of storm petrel in the family Hydrobatidae. An all black to sooty brown seabird, Markham's storm petrel is difficult to differentiate from the black petrel Procellaria parkinsoni in life, and was once described as conspecific with, or biologically identical to, Tristram's storm petrel Hydrobates tristrami. Markham's storm petrel inhabits open seas in the Pacific Ocean around Peru, Chile, and Ecuador, but only nests in northern Chile and Peru, with ninety-five percent of all known breeding populations in 2019 found in the Atacama Desert. First described by British ornithologist Osbert Salvin in 1883, the bird was named in honor of Albert Hastings Markham, a naval officer who collected a specimen off Peru.
Markham's storm petrel nests in natural cavities in saltpeter, and pairs produce one egg per season. After hatching, fledglings make their way to sea, and can be either attracted to or disoriented by artificial lights. The diet of Markham's storm petrel consists of fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans, with about ten percent of stomach contents traceable to scavenging according to a 2002 study. Since at least 2012, Markham's storm petrel has been listed as an endangered species in Chile, and, in 2019, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified the conservation status of Markham's storm petrel as Near Threatened due to habitat loss on its nesting grounds. The Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG), a department of the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile, has undertaken conservation efforts in the country.
A piscivore is a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. Piscivorous is equivalent to the Greek-derived word ichthyophagous. Fish were the die...
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While sc...
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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.
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Soaring birds can maintain flight without wing flapping, using rising air currents. Many gliding birds are able to "lock" their extended wings by m...
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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 withMarkham's storm petrel is an all-black to sooty brown storm petrel with a dull lead-gray gloss on its head, neck and mantle in fresh plumage. Its underside, from the neck down, and wing lining are blackish brown, and become almost fuscous, or brownish-gray, with wear of the plumage. External edges of wing coverts in the bird become whitish with wear, but are normally brown; the whitening produces a broad grayish bar that generally extends closer to the wing's bend than what American ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy observed as a somewhat similar mark in the black petrel Loomelania melania (Procellaria parkinsoni ). Its iris is brown, its bill and feet are black, and its tail is deeply forked. Two female specimens taken from 00°18′N 81°51′W / 0.300°N 81.850°W / 0.300; -81.850 in August 1967, both with small gonads and unused oviducts, had heavy contour molt and light fat. Murphy described the species as difficult to distinguish in life from the black petrel, with the chief difference being a much shorter tarsus.
Adult males have a wingspan of 172.7 millimetres (6.80 in) compared to a wingspan of 169.8 millimetres (6.69 in) in adult females, and the tarsus is 23.9 millimetres (0.94 in) in adult males and 24.2 millimetres (0.95 in) in females. Tails are 92.7 millimetres (3.65 in) in adult males and 89.4 millimetres (3.52 in) in adult females. Sexes are alike in terms of physical description. Its eggs are described as pure white without gloss.
Ornithologists Larry B. Spear and David G. Ainley report that Markham's storm petrel has a more leisurely flight pattern than that of the black petrel, and state that Markham's storm petrel has a similar flight pattern to Leach's storm petrel. In 1980, Canadian author RGB Brown stated the birds tended to glide over two observations, with shallow and rapid wingbeats, though an observation by American ornithologist Rollo Beck described its wingbeats as slow, and slower than the wingbeats of Wilson's storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus and Elliot's storm petrel Oceanites gracilis. Unlike the black petrel, Markham's storm petrel typically flies greater than one meter over the ocean surface.
Markham's storm petrel inhabits waters in the Pacific Ocean around Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, though sightings have occurred on the equator west of the Galápagos Islands, within the Panama Bight, and off of Baja California. Sightings off of Baja California might mistake Markham's storm petrel for the black storm petrel due to difficulties of distinguishability in the field. Spear and Ainley observed Markham's storm petrel from 29°54′S 118°01′W / 29.90°S 118.02°W / -29.90; -118.02 to 16°33′N 118°01′W / 16.55°N 118.02°W / 16.55; -118.02, which expanded its westward range from a compilation of sightings recorded by ornithologist Richard S. Crossin in 1974. Its presence is highly unlikely in the Atlantic Ocean outside of freak vagrancies, and in 2007, Spear and Ainley classified the species as endemic to the Humboldt Current. Despite its range, Markham's storm petrel only nests in Peru and Chile.
A survey conducted by Spear and Ainley from 18°N to 30°S, west to 115°, found greatest densities of the bird during austral autumn (the non-breeding season) offshore between Guayaquil and Lima. During spring, the breeding population splits into two around southern Peru and northern Chile, stretching out 1,700 km (1,100 mi) offshore. Nesting colonies were first reported in the late 1980s to early 1990s. In 1992, 1,144 nests, equal to a population of approximately 2,300 nesting pairs, were found five kilometres (3.1 mi) inland on Paracas Peninsula in Peru. Two separate discoveries occurred in Chile in 2013: one of nesting sites south of the Acha valley in Arica Province by a group of ornithologists and one of a recording of a bird singing by a biologist working for a consulting company. After further exploration in November 2013 based on the recording, in 2019, populations of 34,684 nests in Arica, 20,000 nests in Salar Grande, and 624 nests in Pampa de la Perdiz were found in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. This translated to about ninety-five percent of the known breeding population at the time.
Markham's storm petrel nests in burrows, natural cavities, and holes in saltpeter crusts. Nests in saltpeter cavities have been reported in Pampa de Camarones in northern Chile, and inland on Paracas Peninsula. In Peru, egg laying occurs from late June to August; in Chile, an analysis of three colonies in the Atacama Desert found a five-month reproductive cycle, from arrival at colonies to departure of fledglings, across all three colonies, though pairs could reproduce asynchronously. This could lead to an overall ten-month reproductive season. Pairs produce one egg per season, and adults in nests were found to vocalize when a conspecific recording of vocalizations was played at the entrance to the nest. Mean width of the widest part of openings to nest burrows in Chile was measured at 10.3 centimetres (4.1 in) with a standard deviation of ± 3.1 centimetres (1.2 in), with the narrowest part measured at 6.8 centimetres (2.7 in) with a deviation of ± 1.9 centimetres (0.75 in). The average depth of the burrows was greater than 40 centimetres (16 in). After hatching, in Chile, the fledglings move towards the sea. Fledglings are either attracted to or disoriented by artificial lights, an occurrence common to burrow-nesting petrels.
In a study by Spear, Ainley and William A. Walker of the National Marine Mammal Laboratory, a sample of fifteen Markham's storm petrel had consumed namely the fish Diogenichthys laternatus and Vinciguerria lucetia, among other foods. Markham's storm petrel was found to have a lower dietary diversity than other small petrels, though dietary diversity was high generally among small petrels compared to other birds analyzed. A 2002 study in Marine Ornithology found its main diet by mass consisted of fish (namely the Peruvian anchovy Engraulis ringens ), cephalopods (namely the octopus Japetella sp. ), and crustaceans (namely the pelagic squat lobster Pleuroncodes monodon ), with about ten percent of analyzed stomach contents suggestive of scavenging. Based on large variations in the types of food it consumes, and its tendency to scavenge, biologist Ignacio García-Godos concluded Markham's storm petrel was a forager which opportunistically found food near the surface of the ocean. The proportion of birds that feed or rest, compared to flying in transit, was significantly higher in austral autumn than spring in Spear and Ainley's 2007 study.
In 2018, researchers Patrich Cerpa, Fernando Medrano and Ronny Peredo found the ectoparasite stick-tight flea Hectopsylla psittaci on two birds out of ten captured in Pampa de Chaca within the Arica y Parinacota Region. Both specimens were found in the lorum on each bird. The turkey vulture Cathartes aura served as a possible source for the transition between hosts, as Cerpa, Medrano and Peredo observed the two nesting in the same colony. Researchers Rodrigo Barros et al. described the bird as "one of the least known seabirds in the world".
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...