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Providence Petrel (Pterodroma solandri) Alternate name(s): "Solander's Petrel", "Brown-headed Petrel", "Bird-of-Providence", "Big Hill Muttonbird" Size: 40 cm; wing span ca. 1.0 m Weight: 420-560 g

Australia: Family Group 3 Family Group 3 table Southern Fulmar Antarctic Petrel Cape Petrel Mottled Petrel Black-winged Petrel Providence Petrel Grey-faced Petrel Kermadec Petrel Soft-plumaged Petrel Tahiti Petrel Buller's Shearwater Wedge-tailed Shearwater Flesh-footed Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Short-tailed Shearwater Fluttering Shearwater Hutton's Shearwater Little Shearwater Antarctic Prion Slender-billed Prion Fairy Prion Southern Giant-Petrel Northern Giant-Petrel Light-mantled Albatross Wandering Albatross Southern Royal Albatross Northern Royal Albatross Black-browed Albatross Campbell Albatross Buller's Albatross Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Shy Albatross Common Diving-Petrel Wilson's Storm-Petrel New Zealand Storm-Petrel White-faced Storm-Petrel Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Providence Petrels are medium-sized seabirds. Their plumage is almost all-grey on the upper side, usually with a scaly appearance. Especially in fresh plumage the trailing edges of the upperwings can have a "frosted" appearance, with a silvery appearance of the secondaries and tertiaries. The face is light-grey to white, depending on wear, while the underwings are dark-grey, with paired silver wing flashes. The underside is otherwise mid-grey in fresh plumage, fading to light-grey when worn. Only the sides of the head and a collar always remain dark. The tail is wedge-shaped, with the toes hidden under it. Their short neck and tail give them a squat appearance. The short, chunky bill is dark-grey and has a knob at its base.

Taxonomy, classification See Providence Petrel at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Providence Petrel is available HERE . Providence Petrels are a migratory species of the Pacific Ocean. Apart from a few sightings in the tropical eastern Pacific, in the southern hemisphere they are mostly found around eastern Australia, on islands in the Tasman Sea and on/around the South Pacific islands to the North of New Zealand, including New Caledonia and Fiji. In the northern hemisphere they are found mostly around Japan, the Sakhalin peninsula and on islands in the north-western Pacific Ocean, from the Bonin Islands to the western islands of the Aleutian chain. Around Australia Providence Petrels populate the seas around the islands of the Bass Strait, including Tasmania, the islands of the Tasman Sea, and all the way along the Australian East coast, to the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea. They breed on Lord Howe Island and on Phillip Island, next to Norfolk Island. They also used to breed on Norfolk Island, before being extirpated there. When not breeding, Providence Petrels will mostly stay on the high seas. They breed on offshore islands.

Sightings Click here for sighting information M. Eaton reports finding Providence Petrels 22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, in April 2018. P. Brown reports finding Providence Petrels in Australian waters off Sydney, NSW, in April 2019. M. Roderick spotted Providence Petrels off Port Stephens, NSW, in September 2020. M. Eaton reports spotting Providence Petrels off Eaglehawk Neck, near Hobart, TAS, in September 2021.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Providence Petrel that went out in style, breathing its last on a cruise ship (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Off Sydney, NSW, April 2019]

Near-lateral view onto the upperparts of a Providence Petrel (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Lateral view of a Providence Petrel in flight; note the squat shape and the small light-grey facial mask
(photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Off Port Stephens, NSW, September 2020]

Lateral view of a Providence Petrel in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Lateral view of the underside of a Providence Petrel in flight; the bird's squat appearance, together with the underwing pattern and the presence of a light-grey facial mask secure the species identification (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, near Hobart, TAS, September 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a Providence Petrel in low, hovering flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Comparison of a Providence Petrel, upper left, with a Wilson's Storm-Petrel, lower right (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Fri, 24 September 2021, 20:39 +00:00