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Aberrantly plumaged White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis in the Brazilian waters, south-west Atlantic Ocean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2015

Guilherme Frainer*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Sistemática e Ecologia de Aves e Mamíferos Marinhos, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, Agronomia, CEP 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
Nicholas W. Daudt
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Biologia da Conservação de Aves e Mamíferos Aquáticos, Universidade Estadual do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Machado de Assis 1456, CEP 95520-000, Osório, RS, Brazil
Caio J. Carlos
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Sistemática e Ecologia de Aves e Mamíferos Marinhos, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, Agronomia, CEP 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: G. Frainer, Laboratório de Sistemática e Ecologia de Aves e Mamíferos Marinhos, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, Agronomia, CEP 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil email: [email protected]
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Abstract

We report on three aberrantly plumaged White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis from the Brazilian Economic Exclusive Zone in the south-west Atlantic Ocean – the first reports based upon tangible evidence for the region. Two of them showed a low degree of colour aberration (some white around the eyes and on the upper-wing coverts), whereas the third exhibited the highest degree of plumage aberration so far reported for the species: a plumage mostly white with brown freckles on the upper- and under-parts, head and nape. We also commented on problems related to at-sea identification of aberrantly plumaged seabirds.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

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