Fea’s Petrel – Pterodroma feae/deserta
Medium-sized, slightly built gadfly petrel with relatively heavy bill. Fea’s Petrel has dark grey plumage on the upper parts of its body and underwings while the rest of its body is white. On its head, the bird has a white area between its bill (black and robust) and its eyes. The other areas of its head are dark, with the top of the head being dark grey.
Commonly flies at high speed in very high (10/40 metres) “Vs” above the sea, rarely beating its wings. There are no differences between males and females.
This species is endemic to Macaronesia and nests in Madeira archipelago (on Bugio – one of the Desertas islands) and on the Cape Verde islands of São Nicolau, Santiago, Fogo and Santo Antão.
It might be easily confused with Zino’s Petrels due to its similar characteristics though a close look at Fea’s / Desertas Petrels show a bigger and bulkier body with a much heavier bill than Zino’s.
Wingspan: 860 – 940 mm – average: 908 mm (Shirihai et al., 2010)
Total length: 330 – 380 mm – average: 361 mm (Shirihai et al., 2010)
Weight: 245 – 428 g – average: 323 g (Shirihai et al., 2010)
Length of bill: 27 – 31 mm – average: 29.06 mm (Zino & Zino, 1986)
Height of bill base: 13 – 16.2 mm – average: 14.65 mm (Zino & Zino, 1986)