Slender-billed Prion (Pachyptila belcheri)

Identification & Behavior: ~27 cm (11 in). The Slender-billed Prion (Thin-billed Prion) has bluish-gray upperparts with a black “M” pattern on the back. The throat and rest of the underparts are white. The forehead and crown are concolor with the back. The face is white with a bluish-gray mask across the eye, which gives the impression of having a broad white superciliary. The tail is concolor with the back and has a black but reduced terminal band with white outer tail feathers. The underwing is also white. The bill is thick. It is very similar to the Antarctic Prion but is distinguished by having a forehead and crown concolor with the back, a broader white superciliary, and white outer tail feathers.

Status: The Slender-billed Prion is uncommon in pelagic waters of the coast of Peru. It also occurs in Br and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Petrel-Azul de Pico Delgado.

Sub-species: Slender-billed (Thin-billed) Prion (Pachyptila belcheri), (Mathews), 1912.

Meaning of Name: Pachyptila: Gr. pakhus= dense, thick and ptilon= feather, plumage.
belcheri: In honor of Sir Charles Frederic Belcher (1876-1970) Australian jurist, ornithologist.

See more of the Family Procellariidae