Overview
Wilson's Storm Petrel: This small storm-petrel has a brown-black body, pale brown wing bands and a large, white rump. It has a fine black bill with very pronounced tubes. It feeds mainly on pelagic crustaceans and fish. The wings are short and rounded. The feet extend past the tail in flight. It has a direct flight with steady, shallow wing beats. The sexes are similar in size and coloration.
Range and Habitat
Wilson's Storm-Petrel: Breeds on rocky islands in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seas; in non-breeding season, this species ranges northward over the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans; in the eastern Pacific it is very rarely found north to Monterey Bay. Highly pelagic, it comes ashore only to breed.
Southern Storm-Petrels (Oceanitidae)
ORDER
A taxonomic order of tube-nosed seabirds, the PROCELLARIIFORMES (pronounced pro-sel-lehr-EYE-ih-FOR-meez) includes storm-petrels.
FAMILY TAXONOMY
In the Oceanitidae are included three species of storm-petrels that are found in the oceans of the world.Wilson's, White-faced and Black-bellied.
NORTH AMERICA
Two species of storm-petrels ioccure in North American waters, the White-faced Storm-Petrel and Wilson’s Storm Petrel. The numerous Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, and the rare White-faced Storm-Petrel are members of this maritime family of southern Storm-Petrels.
KNOWN FOR
The Wilson’s Storm-Petrel is known for the peculiar behavior of pattering its feet on the surface of the water while foraging. Storm-petrels in general are known for being birds of the marine environment that only come to shore to breed.
PHYSICAL
Storm-petrels are small birds with long wings and medium to long tails that can be forked, square, or wedge-like in shape. Their legs are fairly long with webbed feet, and they have rounded pigeon-like heads. The bills of storm-petrels are small with a slightly hooked tip and tube-like nasal structures to expel excess salt.
COLORATION
Except for the gray and white White-faced Storm-Petrels, North American members of this family have dark, sooty brown or black plumages. The webs of the feet of the Wilson’s Storm-Petrel are yellow (a characteristic rarely visible in field conditions).
GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT
Storm-Petrels are birds that only occur in salt-water habitats and can be found off both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America. Usually, they are only encountered well offshore.
MIGRATION
Storm-Petrel, storm-petrels are very long distance migrants, the Wilson’s Storm-Petrel in particular making incredible voyages from its breeding grounds in the Antarctic to waters of the Northern Hemisphere.
HABITS
Storm-Petrels nest in colonies and often forage in flocks that fly low over the water to pick small sea creatures and carrion off the surface. Flight patterns differ by species; some pattering the surface of the water with their feet, others flying in zig-zags and other species with rapid, almost bat-like wing-beats.
CONSERVATION
The conservation status of the White-faced Storm-Petrel and Wilson’s Storm Petrel is least concern.
INTERESTING FACTS
Like other Procellariiformes, storm-petrels are long-lived for being small birds; some individuals have lived for over thirty years. They are also highly nocturnal when coming to land to avoid depredation by large gulls. The name “petrel” is thought to have been derived from the name “Peter,” and is an allusion between the story of that Christian saint walking on water and the birds’ doing the same thing while foraging.