Mottled Petrel

Kōrure is a boldly patterned gadfly petrel with a dark cap, grey back and strong black-and-white underwing pattern. The dark cap and eye patch frame a white forehead and face, while a black diagonal bar crosses the white underwing. White-headed petrel has a cleaner white head and less emphatic underwing pattern.

New Zealand breeding is concentrated on islands around Rakiura/Stewart Island, the Snares and Codfish/Whenua Hou, with migration across the North Pacific toward Alaska. Kōrure take squid, fish and crustaceans and return to forest burrows at night to raise one chick.

Mottled petrel is At Risk — Relict (NZ Threat Classification). Cats, rats, weka and habitat damage eliminated many mainland and island colonies. Foveaux Strait and southern offshore trips may see birds in the breeding season; large migrations occur far offshore.