In partnership with
Research
Our research investigates the identification and the range/distribution of tubenoses Procellariiforms. The primary aim is to enhance knowledge about at-sea identification and (where possible) ageing of the tubenoses, thus permitting more accurate at-sea observations, a greater amount of useful data, and a better understanding of range/distribution and population sizes. At-sea observation complements data logging and satellite tracking of small numbers of representatives of tubenose taxa and contributes equally to conservation plans. The project is important because tubenoses are under extreme pressure from habitat destruction of their breeding islands and pollution of the marine environment, and a high proportion of taxa are endangered or critically endangered.
Flood, R. L. & Zufelt, Z. 2023. Sighting of a Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki and a Vanuatu Petrel Pterodroma [cervicalis] occulta in remote Oceania, and the process of identification. Marine Ornithology 51: 79–84 [click here].
Flood, R. L., Rogers, C., Tanoi, S., & Zufelt, K. 2023. Pelagic observations Hawaii to Fiji, via Kiribati and Phoenix Islands, April–June 2022. Pacific Seabird Group Technical Publication Number 5. Available at pacificseabirdgroup.org/psg-publications/technical-publications/ or click here.
Flood, R. L. 2023. Voyage of discovery. Birdwatch March: 56–59 [click here].
Flood, R. L., Koerkamp, G. G., de Vries, P. P., & Adishcheva, O. 2022. ‘Russian Arctic flyway’ – another possible route for Short-tailed Shearwater to access North Atlantic. Dutch Birding 44: 363–367 [click here].
Flood, R. L., Danzenbaker, M., Hansbro, P., Rogers, C., Tanoi, H., Tanoi, S. 2022. More New Zealand Storm Petrels Fregetta maoriana off Gau Island, Fiji, in May 2022. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 142: 380–382. [click here].
Flood, R. L., Zufelt, K., Danzenbaker, M., Tanoi, S., Bretagnole, V., & Shirihai, H. 2022. The Dark-Morph Herald Petrel Pterodroma heraldica. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 142: 354–365. [Click here].
Flesh-footed Shearwater, Santa Barbara das Ribeiras, Pico Island, Azores Islands, 7 August 2020 - Robert L. Flood, & Susana Simião. 2022. Dutch Birding 44: 83–88 [click here]. Bob and Susana Simiao report the first sighting of Flesh-footed Shearwater in the North Atlantic and the second record for the Western Palearctic.
Fregetta lineata (Peale 1848) is a valid extant species endemic to New Caledonia. - Vincent Bretagnolle, Robert L. Flood, Sabrina Gaba, & Hadoram Shirihai. 2022. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 142: 111–130 [click here]. Bob joins three petrel juggernauts in a rare publication that confirms a new species of bird, a storm-petrel.
Pelagic observations, during a circumnavigation of the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, September-October 2021. - Robert L. Flood, Shoko Tanoi, & Kirk Zufelt. 2022. Pacific Seabird Group Technical Publication Number 4 [click here]. Bob and team find the mythical dark-morph Herald Petrel, several first records for the Marquesas, and important information about numerous breeding seabirds.
Pelagic birds around Rapa and Marotiri, French Polynesia, October–December 2019, with notes on Rapa Shearwater Puffinus myrtae and Titan Storm-petrel Fregetta [grallaria] titan. - Robert L. Flood, Kirk Zufelt, Vincent Bretagnolle & Hadoram Shirihai. 2021. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 141: 387–411 [click here] - Team Bob and Kirk Zufelt join forces with Vincent Bretagnolle and Hadoram Shirihai in the first major survey of seabirds in the waters of Rapa Island and Marotiri Rocks, Austral Islands, French Polynesia. Included are extended notes on the Critically Endangered Rapa Shearwater and the mythical Titan Storm-petrel.
Pelagic observations, Gambier Islands to Tahiti via Austral Islands, October–November 2019, and past expeditions in East Polynesia - Robert L. Flood & Kirk Zufelt, Pacific Seabird Group Technical Publication Number 3, 2021 [click here] - Bob and Kirk report findings from an epic 24-day expedition across the ocean of East Polynesia, review previous expeditionary work, and make significant updates to knowledge about seabirds of the region.
The status of Great-winged Petrel Pterodroma macroptera in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, with notes on separation from dark-morph Trindade Petrel P. arminjoniana - Fernanda C. L. Valls, Mauricio Tavares, Robert L. Flood & Leandro Bugoni, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 141: 267–275, 2021 [click here] - Bob joins Brazilian authors in reviewing the status of Great-winged Petrel in the south-west Atlantic.
Separation of Cory’s Calonectris borealis and Scopoli’s C. diomedea Shearwaters based on underwing plumage - Robert L Flood & Ricard Gutiérrez, Marine Ornithology 49: 311–320, 2021, [click here, plus appendix 1, 2 and 3] - Bob and Ricard present the method, results, and implications of their long-term study of the separation of Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters based on underwing pattern.
Tahiti Petrel off Mirbat, Oman, in February 2019 - Robert L Flood & Bill Simpson, Dutch Birding, 43: 257-262, 2021 [click here] - Bob and Bill Simpson report the first Tahiti Petrel for the Greater Western Palearctic.
Short-tailed Shearwater at Tramore, Ireland, in June 2020 - Paul Archer, Robert L Flood, Adrian Allen, Arlo Jacques, Heidi Acampora, Tereza Senfeld, Thomas J Shannon & J Martin Collinson, Dutch Birding, 2021: 43: 183-197 [click here] - This is the complete story of the first Short-tailed Shearwater to be IDd in the Western Palearctic; from the find alive on a beach, to its ID based on plumage and structure, to confirmation by DNA, to necropsy of the dead bird.
‘Canadian Arctic flyway’ – possible route for Short-tailed Shearwater to access North Atlantic? - Robert L Flood, James M Richards, Anthony J Gaston & Kirk Zufelt, Dutch Birding, 2021: 43: 198-202 [click here] - This article explores evidence that some Short-tailed Shearwaters reach the Atlantic via the Canadian Arctic, now that the Northwest Passage is increasingly ice free in summer months.
Cetaceans recorded off the Isles of Scilly since 2000 - Robert L Flood & Joseph Pender, Sea Watch News, 2021 [click here]
Scopoli’s Shearwater collected in Faeroes in August 1877 - Kent Olsen, Robert L Flood, Tereza Senfeld, Thomas J Shannon & J Martin Collinson Dutch Birding, 2020: 42: 335-341 [click here]
Audubon’s Shearwater collected in Skagerrak, Denmark, in September 1912 - Robert L Flood, Kent Olsen, Tereza Senfeld, Thomas J Shannon & J Martin Collinson Dutch Birding, 2020 42: 147-156 [click here]
What is known about the enigmatic Gulf of Guinea bandrumped storm petrels Hydrobates cf. castro? - Robert L. Flood, Ricardo F. de Lima, Martim Melo, Philippe Verbelen, and William H. Wagstaff Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, 2019 139(2):173-186 [click here]
Variation and identification of Barolo Shearwater and Boyd's Shearwater - Robert Flood & Rinse van der Vliet (2019) [click here]
Status of Cory's Shearwater in the western Mediterranean - Robert Flood & Ricard Gutiérrez (2019) [click here]
Bulwer’s Petrels with whitish or pale underbody - Robert Flood (2019) [click here]
Identification of Short-tailed Shearwater in the North Atlantic – Robert Flood & Ashley Fisher (2019). British Birds, 112, May 2019: 250 – 263 [click here]
Age-related timing of primary moult of Shy Albatross – Robert Flood & Peter Ryan (2018) [click here]
Observation at dusk off southeast Tristan Island revealed numbers of Great-winged Petrel returning to colony far in excess of the estimate of the colony population – Robert Flood & Kirk Zufelt (2018) [click here]
The 10th live record of Black-capped Petrel in the Western Palearctic – Robert Flood & Andrew Williams (2018) [click here]
Observations of feeding behaviour of Great Skua off Scilly – Robert Flood (2018) [click here]
Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel off French Guiana, South America – Robert Flood et al. (2017) [click here]
An expedition from Chile to Juan Fernandez return – Robert Flood et al. (2017) [click here]
Observations of 5 little known tubenoses of Melanesia – Robert Flood et al. (2017) [click here]
A New Zealand Storm-petrel off Fiji – Robert Flood & Angus Wilson (2017) [click here]
Observations of Jouanin’s Petrel (and other seabirds) Muscat to Djiouti – Robert Flood (2016) [click here]
Observations of Chatham Petrel off New Zealand – Robert Flood et al. (2016) [click here]
Three Murphy’s Petrels off Juan Fernandez – Robert Flood et al. (2016) [click here]
Process of ID of a Fea’s Petrel off Scilly – Robert Flood (2015) [click here]
Observations of Mascarene Petrel (and other seabirds) off Reunion Island – Robert Flood et al. (2015) [click here]
The history of Wilson’s Storm-petrel sightings off Britain – David Callahan (2015) [click here]
The status of Wilson’s Storm-petrel off Scilly – Robert Flood (2015) [click here]
Predation of Wilson’s Storm-petrel by a Long-tailed Skua – Robert Flood et al. (2015) [click here]
Unfamiliar plumage types of Fulmar in the North Atlantic – Robert Flood & Hein van Grouw (2015) [click here]
Plumage variation of Pacific Fulmar in the Bering Sea – Robert Flood (2015) [click here]
Identification and ageing of Yellow-nosed Albatrosses – Robert Flood (2015) [click here]
Identification and ageing of Black-browed Albatross – Robert Flood & Ashley Fisher (2015) [click here]
Black-browed Albatross primary moult timing in the fourth prebasic moult – Robert Flood (2014) [click here]
First South Polar Skua for Madeira – Robert Flood et al. (2013) [click here]
First confirmed records of Cory’s Shearwater for the UAE – Oscar Campbell et al. (2013) [click here]
Madeiran Storm-petrel off Scilly: new to Britain – Robert Flood (2012) [click here]
Wilson’s Storm-petrels with white in the underwings – Robert Flood (2011) [click here]
Scopoli’s Shearwater off Scilly: new to Britain – Ashley Fisher & Robert Flood (2010) [click here]
Trindade Petrels around the Atlantic – Robert Flood (2010) [click here]
Ten year analysis of Wilson’s Storm-petrels off Scilly – Robert Flood & Ashley Fisher (2010) [click here]
European Storm-petrels diving for food – Robert Flood et al. (2009) [click here]
Rediscovery of the New Zealand Storm-petrel 2 – Brent Stephenson & Robert Flood (2008) [click here]
First record of Polynesian Storm-petrel for Australia – Robert Flood (2008) [click here]
Black-and-white storm-petrels in the Atlantic – Robert Flood & Bryan Thomas (2007) [click here]
Fea’s Petrel off Scilly: new to Britain – Ashley Fisher & Robert Flood (2006) [click here]
Digital resurrection of the New Zealand Storm-petrel – Robert Flood et al. (2004) [click here]
Rediscovery of the New Zealand Storm-petrel – Robert Flood (2003) [click here]