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Parkinson’s Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni
Jehl saw a single individual of this species on 14th April 1973 about 80km (50 miles) off the coast of Guatemala. It landed on the ship and followed behind for about three hours. This was the first record in the northern hemisphere of a bird that breeds in New Zealand. He describes the sighting as unexpected, but he was then able to collect a second individual from off the coast of Costa Rica a week later. He also refers to another sighting made the following day and to two unpublished reports off the coast of Panama. These records suggest that this species is actually regular off the coast of Middle America. Jehl also discusses the similarity between this species and Flesh-footed Shearwater Puffinus carneipes and comments that previous sight records of Flesh-footed Shearwater in Middle America may actually have been Parkinsons Petrels. I did not see this species on either of my pelagic trips, which were off the coast of Guatemala on 11th May and off El Salvador on 2nd July.