Wilson's Storm-petrel
Encyclopedia
Wilson's Storm Petrel also known as Wilson's Petrel, is a small seabird
of the storm-petrel
family. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly in the seas of the southern hemisphere but extending northwards during the summer of the northern hemisphere. The world population has been estimated to be more than 50 million pairs. The name commemorates the Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson
.
, 16–18.5 cm (6.3–7.3 in) in length with a 38–42 cm (15–16.5 in) wingspan. It is slightly larger than the European Storm Petrel and is essentially dark brown in all plumages, except for white rump and flanks. The feet jut beyond the square ended tail in flight. The European Storm Petrel has a very distinct whitish lining to the underwing and the band along the upper secondary coverts is more distinct than in Wilson's. The webbing between the toes is yellow with black spots in pre-breeding age individuals.
although some authors have reinstated it and note that they have some white mottling on the belly.
The name Mother Carey's Chicken was used in early literature and often applied to several petrel species while the generic name of stormy petrel referred to the idea that their appearance foretold stormy weather. Some authors called it the Yellow-webbed Storm-petrel.
coastlines and nearby islands such as the South Shetland Islands
during the summer of the southern hemisphere. It spends the rest of the year at sea, and moves into the northern oceans in the southern hemisphere's winter. It is much more common in the north Atlantic
than the Pacific. Wilson's Storm Petrel is common off eastern North America
in the northern summer and the seasonal abundance of this bird
in suitable Europe
an waters has been revealed through pelagic boat trips, most notably in the area of the Isles of Scilly
, Great Britain
.
It is strictly pelagic outside the breeding season, and this, together with its remote breeding sites, makes Wilson's Petrel a difficult bird to see from land. Only in severe storms might this species be pushed into headlands.
ic food items from the ocean surface. Their unique fluttering and hovering flight is achieved often with their wings held high. Even in calm weather, they can make use of the slight breeze produced by the waves and in effect soar while using their feet to stabilize themselves. Like European Storm Petrel, it is highly gregarious, and will also follow ships. A soft peeping noise is often heard while the birds are feeding. They feed predominantly on planktonic invertebrates close to the surface, rarely plunging below the surface to capture prey. They may however sometimes take 3–8 cm long fish in the family Myctophidae.
At 40 g on average, it is the smallest warm-blooded animal that breeds in the Antarctic region. It nests in colonies close to the sea in rock crevices or small burrows in soft earth and lays a single white egg. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow. In the Antarctic, nests may sometimes get snowed over leading to destruction of the nest or chicks. This storm-petrel
is strictly nocturnal at the breeding sites to avoid predation by gull
s and skua
s, and will even avoid coming to land on clear moonlit nights. Both parents tend the nest and feed the single chick. The chicks call and beg for food, more vigorously when hungry. Chicks remain at nest for about 60 days and are fed on krill, fish and amphipods. Adults have the ability to identify their nest burrows in the dark and their mates by olfactory cues.
Widespread throughout its large range, Wilson's Storm Petrel is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species.
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
of the storm-petrel
Storm-petrel
Storm petrels are seabirds in the family Hydrobatidae, part of the order Procellariiformes. These smallest of seabirds feed on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like.Storm petrels have a cosmopolitan...
family. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly in the seas of the southern hemisphere but extending northwards during the summer of the northern hemisphere. The world population has been estimated to be more than 50 million pairs. The name commemorates the Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson
Alexander Wilson
Alexander Wilson was a Scottish-American poet, ornithologist, naturalist, and illustrator.Wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland, the son of an illiterate distiller. In 1779 he was apprenticed as a weaver. His main interest at this time was in writing poetry...
.
Description
Wilson's Storm Petrel is a small birdBird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
, 16–18.5 cm (6.3–7.3 in) in length with a 38–42 cm (15–16.5 in) wingspan. It is slightly larger than the European Storm Petrel and is essentially dark brown in all plumages, except for white rump and flanks. The feet jut beyond the square ended tail in flight. The European Storm Petrel has a very distinct whitish lining to the underwing and the band along the upper secondary coverts is more distinct than in Wilson's. The webbing between the toes is yellow with black spots in pre-breeding age individuals.
Taxonomy
Originally described in the genus Procellaria it has been placed under the genus Oceanites. Two or three subspecies are recognized and one population maorianus from New Zealand may be extinct. The nominate population breeds from Cape Horn to the Kerguelen Islands while exasperatus breeds along the Antarctic coast in the South Shetland and other islands. The population from Tierra del Fuego was described as chilensis (=wollastoni, magellanicus) but this is considered a nomen nudumNomen nudum
The phrase nomen nudum is a Latin term, meaning "naked name", used in taxonomy...
although some authors have reinstated it and note that they have some white mottling on the belly.
The name Mother Carey's Chicken was used in early literature and often applied to several petrel species while the generic name of stormy petrel referred to the idea that their appearance foretold stormy weather. Some authors called it the Yellow-webbed Storm-petrel.
Distribution
This species breeds on the AntarcticAntarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
coastlines and nearby islands such as the South Shetland Islands
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...
during the summer of the southern hemisphere. It spends the rest of the year at sea, and moves into the northern oceans in the southern hemisphere's winter. It is much more common in the north Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
than the Pacific. Wilson's Storm Petrel is common off eastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in the northern summer and the seasonal abundance of this bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in suitable Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an waters has been revealed through pelagic boat trips, most notably in the area of the Isles of Scilly
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
It is strictly pelagic outside the breeding season, and this, together with its remote breeding sites, makes Wilson's Petrel a difficult bird to see from land. Only in severe storms might this species be pushed into headlands.
Behaviour and ecology
Wilson's Storm Petrel has a more direct gliding flight than other small petrels, and like most others it flies low over the seas surface and has the habit of pattering on the water surface as it picks planktonPlankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
ic food items from the ocean surface. Their unique fluttering and hovering flight is achieved often with their wings held high. Even in calm weather, they can make use of the slight breeze produced by the waves and in effect soar while using their feet to stabilize themselves. Like European Storm Petrel, it is highly gregarious, and will also follow ships. A soft peeping noise is often heard while the birds are feeding. They feed predominantly on planktonic invertebrates close to the surface, rarely plunging below the surface to capture prey. They may however sometimes take 3–8 cm long fish in the family Myctophidae.
At 40 g on average, it is the smallest warm-blooded animal that breeds in the Antarctic region. It nests in colonies close to the sea in rock crevices or small burrows in soft earth and lays a single white egg. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow. In the Antarctic, nests may sometimes get snowed over leading to destruction of the nest or chicks. This storm-petrel
Storm-petrel
Storm petrels are seabirds in the family Hydrobatidae, part of the order Procellariiformes. These smallest of seabirds feed on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like.Storm petrels have a cosmopolitan...
is strictly nocturnal at the breeding sites to avoid predation by gull
Gull
Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...
s and skua
Skua
The skuas are a group of seabirds with about seven species forming the family Stercorariidae and the genus Stercorarius. The three smaller skuas are called jaegers in North America....
s, and will even avoid coming to land on clear moonlit nights. Both parents tend the nest and feed the single chick. The chicks call and beg for food, more vigorously when hungry. Chicks remain at nest for about 60 days and are fed on krill, fish and amphipods. Adults have the ability to identify their nest burrows in the dark and their mates by olfactory cues.
Widespread throughout its large range, Wilson's Storm Petrel is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species.
Other sources
- Beck, J.R & Brown, D.W. 1972. The Biology of Wilson's Storm Petrel, Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl) at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports No. 69.
- Bourne, W.R.P. 1983. Letters (The ‘yellow webs’ of Wilson’s Storm-petrel). British Birds 76(7): 316-317.
- Bourne, W.R.P. 1987. Parallel variation in the markings of Wilson’s and Leach’s Storm-petrels. Sea Swallow 36: 64.
- Bourne, W.R.P. 1988. Letters (John Gould and the storm-petrels). British Birds 81(8): 402-403.
- British Ornithologists’ Union 2008. British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee: 36th Report (November 2007). Ibis 150: 218-220.
- Copestake, P.G. & Croxall, J.P. 1985. Aspects of the breeding biology of Wilson's Storm Petrel Oceanites oceanicus at Bird Island, South Georgia. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 66: 7-17.
- Croxall, J.P. et al. 1988. Food and feeding ecology of Wilson’s storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus at South Georgia. Journal of Zoology 216: 83-102.
- Curtis, W.F. 1988. An example of melanism in Wilson’s Storm-petrel. Sea Swallow 37: 63.
- Flood, R.L. 2011. Notes (Wilson’s Storm-petrel with white stripes on the underwing). British Birds 104(5): 272-273.
- Gebczynski, A.K. 2003. The food demand in the nest of Wilson’s storm petrel. Polish Polar Research 24(2): 127-131.
- Harrison, P. 1983. Identification of white-rumped North Atlantic petrels. British Birds 76(4): 161-174.
- Orgeira, J.L. 1997. Nidificacion y habitat del Petrel de Wilson (Oceanites oceanicus) en Punta Cierva, Costa de Danco, peninsula Antartica [Nesting habitat of Wilson’s Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) at Cierva Point, Danco, Antarctic peninsula]. Ornitologia Neotropical 8: 49-56.
- Orgeira, J.L. 1997. Short communications (An infrared device for finding Wilson’s Storm Petrel Oceanites oceanicus nests). Marine Ornithology 25: 75-76.
- Quillefeldt, P. 2002. Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of breeding and non-breeding Wilson’s storm-petrel on King George Island, South Shetland Islands. Polar Biology 25: 216-221.
- van den Berg, A.B. et al. 1982. Mass movement of Bridled Terns Sterna anaethetus and Wilson’s Petrels Oceanites oceanicus off Colombo, Sri Lanka. Ardea 70: 81-82.
- Wasilewski, A. 1986. Ecological aspects of the breeding cycle in the Petrel de Wilson, Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl), at King George Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Polish Polar Research 7: 173-216.