725 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119(4):725–729, 2007 Effects of the First Southern Atlantic Hurricane on Atlantic Petrels (Pterodroma incerta) Leandro Bugoni, 1,4 Martin Sander, 2 and Erli Schneider Costa 2,3 ABSTRACT.—We report a massive inland displace- ment of petrels, particularly female Atlantic Petrels (Pterodroma incerta) in southern Brazil, after Hurri- cane Catarina, the first ever reported hurricane in the South Atlantic Ocean. At least 354 petrels were af- fected and were found in 26 different locations, up to 420 km from the coast and 1,100 m above sea level. Birds were in heavy molt and near starvation, which probably contributed to their displacement and mor- tality. Received 2 October 2006. Accepted 4 March 2007. The Atlantic Petrel (Pterodroma incerta) is a medium-sized gadfly petrel endemic to Gough and Tristan da Cunha islands (Brooke 2004); it has vulnerable global status (Birdlife International 2004) and is one of the least known seabirds (Cuthbert 2004). The global population is 1.8 million pairs and declining because of low breeding success (20%) due to predation by introduced house mice (Mus musculus) on Gough Island (Cuthbert 2004, Cuthbert and Hilton 2004). It is also predated by Southern Skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus) on Gough Island and by rats (Rattus spp.) on Tristan da Cunha Island (Birdlife International 2004). The pelagic distribution is largely con- fined to the South Atlantic Ocean with a few records in the Indian Ocean (Enticott 1991, Brooke 2004). Distribution records range from 01° 31' S, 38° 46' W off Brazil (Bourne and Curtis 1985) to 65° 12' S, 41° 05' W in the Weddell Sea (Orgeira 2001) with most be- tween 20 and 50° S (Enticott 1991). The spe- 1 Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Univer- sity of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom. 2 Laboratory of Ornithology and Marine Animals, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Av. Unisinos 950, Bairro Cristo Rei, CEP 93.022-000, Sa ˜o Leopol- do, RS, Brazil. 3 Ecology Postgraduate Program, Universidade Fed- eral do Rio de Janeiro, Cx. Postal 68.020, Ilha do Fun- da ˜o, CEP 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. 4 Corresponding author; e-mail: L.bugoni.1@research.gla.ac.uk cies is most abundant close to the Subtropical Convergence Zone (Rumboll and Jehl 1977, Veit 1995). Hurricanes, also called cyclonic storms, ty- phoons, or cyclones can have severe impacts on populations of vertebrates and inverte- brates reducing abundance or extinguishing small populations, as well as extirpating them in more exposed areas (Spiller et al. 1998). Effects on terrestrial birds could be direct, such as death when exposed to strong winds and rain, and displacement to offshore waters or indirect, by increasing predation rates, de- struction of nesting and roosting areas, and reduction of food resources (Wauer and Wun- derle 1992, Wiley and Wunderle 1993, Col- lazo et al. 2003, White et al. 2005). The main effects of hurricanes on seabirds are loss of eggs, and mortality of chicks and adults with reduction of breeding success of terns (Sterna spp.) and noddies (Anous spp.) (White et al. 1976, Langham 1984), direct mortality of adults caused by strong winds (Cely 1991) or petrels and shearwaters displaced inland, par- ticularly in North America (Murphy 1936, Heintzelman 1961, Wiley and Wunderle 1993). Birds found inland are apparently en- trapped in the eye of hurricanes and are held away from the periphery of gales (Murphy 1936). We describe the inland displacement of sea- birds after Hurricane Catarina, which hit southern Brazil in March 2004 and provide data on biometry, molt, and body condition of affected Atlantic Petrels. Hurricane Catarina was named after Santa Catarina State in south- ern Brazil (Fig. 1) and was the first ever re- ported hurricane in the South Atlantic Ocean (Pezza and Simmonds 2005). It began as an extra-tropical cyclone 800 km from the coast of Brazil (26° S) 20 March 2004 with min- imal pressure inside the eye of 974 hPa (hectoPascal) and a total diameter of 400 km (Pezza and Simmonds 2005). It reached the