| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | AVES | PROCELLARIIFORMES | PROCELLARIIDAE |
| Scientific Name: | Pterodroma ultima | |||
| Species Authority: | Murphy, 1949 | |||
Common Name/s:
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| Red List Category & Criteria: | Near Threatened ver 3.1 | |||||||||
| Year Published: | 2010 | |||||||||
| Assessor/s: | BirdLife International | |||||||||
| Reviewer/s: | Calvert, R., Butchart, S., Bird, J. | |||||||||
| Contributor/s: | Bretagnolle, V., Thibault, J. | |||||||||
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Justification: This species qualifies as Near Threatened because although rats have been eradicated at the largest breeding population, the population continues to slowly decline within its moderately small range. |
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| History: |
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| Range Description: | Pterodroma ultima breeds in the Pitcairn Islands (to UK), the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Austral Islands4 and the Gambier Islands (French Polynesia)7 and perhaps in the Cook Islands. In the Pitcairns, an estimated 2,500 (± 500) breed on Henderson, 12,500 (± 2,500) on Oeno, and 250,000 (± 29,000) on Ducie3. In the Tuamotus, colonies occur on Mururoa and Fangataufa6, although these may have disappeared owing to nuclear tests and the recent construction of an airstrip2,9. In the Australs, it breeds only on a limited number of islets off Rapa where the population was estimated at 10-100 pairs in 19908. In the Gambiers, proof of breeding was found for the first time on Manui and numbers were estimated at 5-10 pairs7. In the Cook Islands, a specimen was collected probably from Rarotonga or perhaps one of the other southern Cook Islands, between c.1899 and 19045. Non-breeding dispersal is poorly known but mostly north as far as north-west Hawaiian chain in west, yet frequently seen in eastern tropical Pacific as far as Californian current. |
| Countries: |
Native:
French Polynesia; Pitcairn
Vagrant:
Saint Helena
Present - origin uncertain:
American Samoa; Canada; Chile; Cook Islands; Costa Rica; Ecuador; French Southern Territories (the); Kiribati; Mexico; Niue; Peru; Samoa; Tokelau; Tonga; United States; United States Minor Outlying Islands
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| Range Map: | Click here to open the map viewer and explore range. |
| Population: | Brooke (2004) |
| Population Trend: |
Decreasing
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| Habitat and Ecology: | Has been recorded nesting in rocky cliffs during March. |
| Systems: | Terrestrial; Marine |
| Major Threat(s): | Pacific rat Rattus exulans is present on some islands, and causes low breeding success on Henderson in particular3. The species is potentially threatened by climate change because it has a geographically bounded distribution: it is restricted to an island or islands with a maximum altitude of 33 m10. There is no information on trends. |
| Conservation Actions: |
Conservation Actions Underway Although the species breeds at a small number of locations and may be declining at some of these, the recent eradication of rats on Ducie1 secures the largest population. Conservation Actions Proposed Monitor the Ducie population. Continue searches for the species in the Tuamotus2. Consider eradicating Pacific rat on Henderson. |
| Citation: | BirdLife International 2010. Pterodroma ultima. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 May 2012. |
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