HA WATIAN DARK-RUMPED PETREL (UAU) Pterodroma phaeopygia sandwichensis (Ridgway' 



Order PROCELLARIIFORMES Family: PROCELLARIIDAE 



Distinguishing characteristics : A large petrel , dark above with white face; white below . 

 Underwing white with some black feathers . 



Presei.1 distribution : Haleakala Crater on Maui and flanks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa 

 on H; waii . 



Foremer distribution : Formerly nested at high elevations on all of the main Hawaiian 

 Islands . 



Status : Low numbers . Few observed at sea compared with related species . 



Estimated numbers : Probably about 800 adults nesting in Haleakala National Park, Maui. 

 No estimate for Hawaii, but very small numbers. 



Breeding rate in the wild : One egg per year . Nesting success unknown. 



Reasons for decline : Evidence that black rats are primary cause of chick mortality at 

 Haleakala. At lower elevations mosquito-borne avian malaria and predation by mongooses 

 may be limiting factors (Warner 1968 and Tomich 1969). Formerly collected for human 

 consumption by early Hawaiians . 



Protective measures already taken : Protected by State and Federal law. Predator control 

 has been practiced on Maui recently. The breeding grounds of the main population lies 

 within National Park boundaries . 



Measures proposed : Preservation of natural environment including establishment of 

 needed refuges. Control predators where needed. Intensify ecological and life history 

 research. 



Number in captivity : None known. 



Breeding potential in captivity : Unknown . 



References : 



Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife . Administrative Reports . 



Hawaii Division of Fish and Game. Administrative Reports. 



King, W. B. 1970. (in lit.). 



Larson, V. W. , unpub .- ms . "The dark-rumped petrel in Haleakala Crater, 



Maui, 21 pp. 1967 report to National Park Service. 

 Munro, G. C. 1960. Birds of Hawaii. Charles E. Tuttle Co., Rutland, Vermont, 



and Tokyo, Japan. 192 pp. 

 Richardson F. and D. Woodside . 1954. Rediscovery of the nesting of the dark-rumped 



petrel in the Hawaiian Islands . Condor, 56:323-327. 

 Tomich, P. Q. 1969. Mammals in Hawaii, a synopsis and notational bibliography. 



Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 

 Warner, R. E. 1968. The role of introduced diseases in the extinction of the endemic 



Hawaiian avifauna . Condor, 70:101-120. 



101 



