Subspecies
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No information has been entered yet.
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Synonyms
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Older German names for this species are: Fregatte, Fregattsturmschwalbe, Fregattensturmschwalbe.
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Identification
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No information has been entered yet.
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Distribution
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Southern oceans. In the northern Atlantic it is known from the Capverde
islands and Canary islands. Strays may reach Europe, but there is no
confirmed record for Germany. There is a record from 1787 given as
"Procellaria Fregatta, L. Die Fregatte". The locality of this record is
in Germany in Hessen and is given as "Auf der Wester; sehr selten."
(transl. "on the Wester; very rare") (Grandidier 1787). The identity of this bird is unclear. Scherner (2001) suggests that this record refers to a fregatebird of the genus Fregata (see Fregata magnificens), while Ringleben (cited in Scherner 2001) believes that this record refers to a storm petrel, presumably Fregetta grallaria.
I believe that both interpretations are not correct. The notion that
the 1787 record refers to a Fregata species is based on the fact that a
true Fregata specimen has been shot on the Weser around the same time
(in January 1792). Scherner (2001)
argues that "Wester" (the locality of the 1787 record) is identical to
"Weser" (the locality of the 1792 record) and that the two records
therefore actually refer to the same bird and the date of the find has
been confused over time. However, the 1792 record is relatively
well-documented, even the exact month of the find (January) is given.
Thus it is unlikely that the two records refer to the same bird. The
notion that the 1787 record refers to Fregetta grallaria is probably
based on the similarity between the Genus name Fregetta and the German
name "Fregatte" given in Grandidier (1787).
However, at Grandidier´s time (late 18th century) "Fregatte" or
"Fregattensturmschwalbe" was the vernacular name of Pelagodroma marina,
not of Fregetta grallaria. In addition, Pelagodroma marina occurs farther north, whereas Fregetta grallaria
is a southern species with no other record in Europe. Therefore, I
suggest that the most likely identity of the 1787 "Procellaria Fregatta"
is the White-faced Storm Petrel Pelagodroma marina. Thus, the 1787
record is likely the first and so far only record of Pelagodroma marina
in Germany.
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Biology
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No information has been entered yet.
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