Bulwer's petrel (Bulweria bulwerii) is a small petrel in the family Procellariidae that is found in tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is named after the English naturalist James Bulwer.
Taxonomy
Bulwer's petrel was formally described in 1828 by the naturalists Jardine and Selby who coined the binomial name Procellaria bulwerii. The specific epithet was chosen to acknowledge the artist and naturalist James Bulwer who had collected the type specimen on the island of Madeira. Bulwer's petrel is now placed in the genus Bulweria that was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. and North Carolina and Australia.
Behaviour
Breeding
thumb|upright=0.7|Egg of Bulwer's petrel<br />(coll.[[MHNT)]]
Nests are built in burrows, vegetation, cliff caves/crevices, and under man-made debris and onshore driftwood.
The breeding season for Bulwer's petrel starts in April and May.
This petrel lays a clutch of one egg, although young and inexperienced birds will occasionally lay two eggs. The egg is beige-white and usually measures . Both sexes incubate the eggs for a period of 42 to 46 days. They will also both feed the chicks.
Threats
In the North East Atlantic, the species is predated by cats, house rats and endemic invertebrates. Feral cats are considered a major driver of the present distribution of the species. In the Azores, breeding areas are restricted to steep cliffs to avoid cat predation. In one colony on Madeira, predation of Shearwater chicks by Madeiran wall lizards has been recorded in up to 10% of nests, though it is highly unlikely to have an impact on the species on a population level. The large colony in the Desertas Islands suffers intense human exploitation for food or fish bait, which also occurs at a lower level in other North East Atlantic sites, although not in the Salvage Islands following the declaration of the islands as a nature reserve.