#ABArare - Fea's Petrel - New York

On June 19, Anthony Colleton and others on a scouting trip for a fishing voyage out of Montauk, Suffolk, New York, photographed an apparent ABA Code 3 Fea's Petrel, Pterodroma feae.  The bird was first seen 5 miles southeast of Montauk Light and last seen heading north.  Pending acceptance, this is a first record for New York. 

Photo by Anthony Colleton, used with permission

Fea's Petrel (still considered Fea's/Zino's Petrel by the ABA Checklist Committee) was first reported from the ABA area in North Carolina in 1981 and has been nearly annual since.  The bulk of records still come from that state but it has also been reported north to Virginia and south to Georgia and South Carolina.  An exceptional record from Nova Scotia, and two more from Newfoundland, are the farthest outliers. 

The species was formerly considered conspecific with the Soft-plumaged Petrel (P. mollis) of the southern hemisphere.  It breeds on the Cape Verde Island and Madiera in the eastern Atlantic.  The populations on each of those islands are considred by some to be full species in their own right (Howell, Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America)