Last night Madeira Wind Birds (Hugo and Catarina www.madeirawindbirds.com) sent us this photo taken off the back of a camera with a phone, during a pelagic off Madeira. Assuming it is a true representation, and there is no reason to believe otherwise, then it is a Black-bellied Storm-petrel and a first for the Western Palearctic:
The long dark hood of Black-bellied drapes over its entire breast (to the upper belly); on Atlantic ‘white-bellieds’ the hood ends approximately half-way down its breast and is visibly short. On Black-bellied, the base of the hood lies farther down the body than the position at which the dark leading-edge of the wing meets the body; on Atlantic ‘white-bellieds’, the base of the hood is level and aligned with the position at which the dark leading-edge of the wing meets the body. Side-on, Black-bellied has an uneven border where the hood meets the white upper belly and in the center it bulges in toward the belly; Atlantic ‘white-bellieds’ have a straight border where the hood meets the white lower breast. Side-on in Black-bellied, the dark/white border undertail/belly cuts in at an angle toward the belly (it is vertical on Atlantic ‘white-bellieds’). In Atlantic ‘white-bellieds the dark undertail-coverts and dark tail form a dark rear carriage that is isolated from the body by white feathers. Finally, of course, it shows very strong evidence of the diagnostic central black belly stripe.
Congratulations Catarina and Hugo!
ADDITIONAL: A much better photograph is now available on Madeira Wind Birds
ADDITIONAL: A much better photograph is now available on Madeira Wind Birds
