Redécouverte du Pétrel de Beck, après 79 ans d’absence

The Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki is a small, recently rediscovered gadfly petrel. It is dark brown above and on the head and throat. It is dark underneath the wings, with a fairly distinct white wingbar. The belly and breast are white. It flies over open oceans with straight wings that are slightly bent back at the tips.
This bird is believed to nest on small islands with tall mountains around Melanesia.This bird used to be known from only two specimens- collected in 1928 in the East of New Ireland and in 1929 in the North-east of Solomon Islands in 1929.
A possible bird waswatched and photographed in Australia’s Coral Sea by birding tour guide Richard Baxter. Besides this possible data, there have been recent sightings of birds that may be Beck’s Petrel in the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands.
During a July-August 2007 voyage into the Bismarck Archipelago, North-east of Papua New Guinea, the Israeli birder Hadoram Shirihai successfully managed to photograph more than 30 of these elusive seabirds. This included sightings of fledged juveniles, suggesting recent breeding. A freshly dead young bird salvaged at sea also becomes only the third specimen in existence. Measurements of this bird confirmed it corresponded to Beck’s original two specimens and later comparisons with those specimens and Tahiti Petrel specimens proved that Beck’s Petrel is alive and well.