WEDGE-RUMPED STORM-PETREL Hydrobates tethys

Easily identified by the extensive white rump patch, which on Galapagos birds especially, can give the appearence of a completely white tail at distance. There are two subspecies, tethys breeding on Galapagos, and kelsalli which breeds on islands off Peru and in the Atacama Desert. The two are probably distinct species, (treated as such by some authorities), as there are differences in morphology, size and habitat preference. Kelsalli disperses north up to 100km offshore, whereas, probably due to availability of food, tethys forages much further offshore, and the two can occasionally be found together, although the size difference is rarely discernible at sea.


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