Observations of leucistic ʻUaʻu (Hawaiian Petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis) on Lānaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Authors
ANDRÉ F. RAINE1 & RACHEL S. SPRAGUE2
1Archipelago Research & Conservation, PO Box 81, Hanapepe, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi 96741, USA (andreraine@arckauai.com)
2Pulama Lānaʻi, PO Box 630310, Lānaʻi City, Hawaiʻi 96763, USA
Citation
RAINE, A.F. & SPRAGUE, R.S. 2022. Observations of leucistic ʻUaʻu (Hawaiian Petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis) on Lānaʻi, Hawaiʻi.
Marine Ornithology 50: 129
- 131
http://doi.org/10.5038/2074-1235.50.2.1479
Received 19 November 2021, accepted 13 April 2022
Date Published: 2022/10/15
Date Online: 2022/09/22
Key words: Hawaiian Petrel, leucism, seabird, Lānaʻi, Pterodroma
Abstract
The ʻUaʻu (Hawaiian Petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis) is an endangered petrel endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. In this short paper, we describe two cases of Hawaiian Petrels with leucistic plumage recorded on the island of Lānaʻi. In both cases, the birds were chicks that fledged successfully in different years from the same burrow. There is only one other documented case of leucism recorded for this species in the Hawaiian Islands despite intensive monitoring of petrel burrows on Kauaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Maui over the last few decades, highlighting the rarity of this plumage aberration.
References
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