Wilson's Storm-Petrel

Oceanites oceanicusOrder: PROCELLARIIFORMES Family: Storm-Petrels (Hydrobatidae)

Codes: Common Name: WISP Scientific Name: OCEOCE ITIS Taxonomic No.: 174650

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Overview

Wilson's Storm-Petrel: Small storm-petrel, mostly brown-black body, pale brown wing bands, large, conspicuous white rump. Wings are short and rounded. Feet extend past tail in flight. Smallest and most commonly seen storm-petrel off the Atlantic Coast. Direct flight with steady, shallow wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Wilson's Storm-Petrel: Breeds on rocky islands in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seas; in non-breeding season ranges northward over Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans; in eastern Pacific very rarely north to Monterey Bay. Pelagic, comes ashore only to breed.

Topo Map: Gull-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"peep-peep-peep-peep"

Interesting Facts

Wilson's Storm-petrels have one of the longest migrations known, and travel in a figure eight each year from breeding grounds in the Antarctic to the subarctic feeding grounds and back again.

They are difficult birds for most people to see because they spend all their lives at sea when not breeding, and even during the breeding season they only come to land after dark and leave again before dawn.

They have yellow webbing between their toes. Modern field guides do not usually show this characteristic as it is not really a field mark being so rarely observed.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Wilson's Storm-Petrel

● Song: "peep-peep-peep-peep"

● Foraging & Feeding: Wilson's Storm-Petrel: Feeds on mollusks, small fish, crustaceans, marine plants, and excrement of cetaceous animals. Snatches food from water surface while in flight; frequently follows ships and whales.

● Breeding & nesting: Wilson's Storm-Petrel: One white egg is laid in a rock crevice or burrow. Incubation ranges from 39 to 48 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Wilson's Storm-Petrel: Black, Ashy, and Least storm-petrels lack white rump. Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel is smaller with larger rump patch. Band-rumped Storm-Petrel is larger and has a thinner rump patch. Leach's Storm-Petrel has forked tail and divided or absent rump patch.

Flight Pattern

Direct gliding flight.

● Range & Habitat: Wilson's Storm-Petrel: Breeds on rocky islands in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seas; in non-breeding season ranges northward over Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans; in eastern Pacific very rarely north to Monterey Bay. Pelagic, comes ashore only to breed.

^BreedingColonial

^PopulationAbundant

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.1 - 1.5 Ounces

Gull-like Body

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

Pelagic

The pelagic is a type of bird whose habitat is on the open ocean rather than in a coastal region or on inland bodies of water (lakes, rivers). An example of a pelagic bird is the blacklegged kittiwake.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America