Swinhoe's Storm-petrel

The Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel breeds in the North Pacific (del Hoyo et al. 1992) and winters to the south and west of its breeding grounds, mainly in the northern Indian Ocean (del Hoyo et al. 1992; Flood & Fisher 2011). The species may also breed in the North Atlantic, although this has never been confirmed (Flood & Fisher 2011). In Mainland Portugal and the Madeira archipelago, the species occurs occasionally; there are no known records for the Azores archipelago. The only known record on the Mainland dates from 1998, when an individual was captured at Ponta de Almádena in Lagos during a trapping session for other storm-petrels, having been attracted by recordings of the vocalisations of this group of birds (Bolton 1999; Catry et al. 2010a). There are other records of the species in the North Atlantic, particularly on the Selvagens Islands. In fact, on Selvagem Grande, the species has been detected on several occasions since 1983 (James & Robertson 1985; Bretagnolle et al. 1991; Dawson et al. 1995; Flood 2009), and its status in this area is still under investigation. During marine censuses carried out as part of this atlas, a record of Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel was made, involving two individuals approximately 185 nautical miles north of the island of Madeira in late November.