NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
White-headed Petrel
Pterodroma lessonii (Garnot, 1826)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The white-headed petrel (Pterodroma lessonii), also known as the white-headed fulmar, is a species of seabird in the petrel family, Procellariidae. It is about 400 mm (16 in) in length.
White-headed petrels breed alone or in colonies in burrows dug among tussocks and herbfields on the subantarctic Antipodes and Auckland Islands.
Wikipedia contributors, White-headed petrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:39:28.917939+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pterodroma lessonii (Garnot, 1826)
- Name authority
- (Garnot, 1826)
- Common name
- White-headed Petrel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Procellariidae
- Genus
- Pterodroma
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderProcellariiformes
- familyProcellariidae Leach, 1820
- genusPterodroma Bonaparte, 1856
- speciesPterodroma lessonii (Garnot, 1826)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pterodroma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Chatham Islands PetrelPterodroma axillaris (Salvin, 1893) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Barau's PetrelPterodroma baraui (Jouanin, 1964) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bermuda PetrelPterodroma cahow (Nichols & Mowbray, 1916) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-necked PetrelPterodroma cervicalis (Salvin, 1891) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cook's PetrelPterodroma cookii (G. R. Gray, 1843) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Masatierra PetrelPterodroma defilippiana (Giglioli & Salvadori, 1869) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Desertas PetrelPterodroma deserta Mathews, 1934 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Juan Fernandez PetrelPterodroma externa (Salvin, 1875) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Herald PetrelPterodroma heraldica (Salvin, 1888) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mottled PetrelPterodroma inexpectata (J. R. Forster, 1844) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gould's PetrelPterodroma leucoptera (Gould, 1844) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Kermadec PetrelPterodroma neglecta (Schlegel, 1863) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Procellaria lessonii Garnot, 1826 Garnot, 1826 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174587 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4PWKQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.