• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
Brooke, M. de L. 2004. Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.
Turbott, E.G. 1990. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand. Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Wellington.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Least Concern
2018	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	96,500,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	poor	estimated	2004
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	8.4 years	-	-	-

Population justification: Brooke (2004) estimated the global population to number at least 3,000,000 individuals.

Trend justification: Analysis of the proportion of Blue Petrels in skua diets by Cerfonteyn and Ryan (2016) suggests that despite the initial rapid increase in breeding success, petrel numbers on Marion Island have not substantially recovered following the eradication of cats there in 1991. It is possible that recovery rates are being negatively affected by the predation of chicks and eggs by introduced house mice (Mus musculus) (Dilley et al., 2017). Additionally, surveys by Pacoureau et al., (2019) found evidence of a long-term decline in burrow occupancy of Blue Petrels at Mayes Island, Kerguelen, with a 70% reduction in burrow occupancy between 1992 and 2013. The Prince Edward Islands, which encompasses Marion Island, and the Kerguelen archipelago are thought to support a substantial proportion of the global population (Dilley et al., 2017), and therefore the overall population trend is suspected to be declining.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Antarctica	extant	native			yes
Argentina	extant	native
Australia	extant	native		yes
Bouvet Island (to Norway)	extant	uncertain
Brazil	extant	native
Chile	extant	native		yes
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	extant	native
French Southern Territories	extant	native		yes
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (to Australia)	extant	uncertain
New Zealand	extant	native
South Africa	extant	native		yes
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	extant	native		yes
St Helena (to UK)	extant	native		yes
Uruguay	extant	native			yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Chile	Islas Diego Ramírez y Rocas Norte
French Southern Territories	Île de l'Est
French Southern Territories	Île des Pingouins
French Southern Territories	Islands of the Golfe du Morbihan
South Africa	Prince Edward Islands Special Nature Reserve
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands	South Georgia - mainland, islands, islets and stacks

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subantarctic	major	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	suitable	breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Epipelagic (0-200m)	major	breeding
Marine Oceanic	Mesopelagic (200-1000m)	major	non-breeding
Marine Oceanic	Mesopelagic (200-1000m)	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Mus musculus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Oryctolagus cuniculus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion, Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Unspecified species	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Arctocephalus gazella	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Blue Petrel Halobaena caerulea. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/blue-petrel-halobaena-caerulea on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.