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. Their flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like.
Storm petrels have a cosmopolitan distribution, being found in all oceans. They are strictly pelagic, coming to land only when breeding. In the case of most species, little is known of their behaviour and distribution at sea, where they can be hard to find and harder to identify. They are colonial nesters, displaying strong philopatry to their natal colonies and nesting sites. Most species nest in crevices or burrows and all but one species attend the breeding colonies nocturnally. Pairs form long-term monogamous bonds and share incubation and chick feeding duties. Like many species of seabird, nesting is highly protracted with incubation taking up to 50 days and fledging another 70 days after that.
Several species of storm petrel are threatened by human activities. One species, the Guadalupe Storm Petrel, is thought to have gone extinct; the New Zealand Storm Petrel was presumed extinct until rediscovered in 2003. The principal threats to storm petrels are introduced species, particularly mammals, in their breeding colonies; many storm petrels habitually nest on isolated mammal-free islands and are unable to cope with predators like rats and feral cats.
Read more about Storm Petrel: Taxonomy, Morphology and Flight, Diet, Distribution and Movements, Breeding, Threats and Conservation, Cultural Representation of The Storm Petrel, Species
Other articles related to "petrel, storm petrel, petrels, storm, storms":
... The "Chalice Petrel", a dark-rumped storm petrel seen and photographed in the Southwest Approaches in 1988, and believed by its observers to be a Matsudaira's Storm Petrel, was eventually rejected ... points to the bird having been a Swinhoe's Storm Petrel, the only dark-rumped storm petrel species otherwise recorded in the North Atlantic ... in the North Atlantic of Swinhoe's Storm Petrel, and that the committee was instead too heavily swayed by the views of a single expert ...
... Albatross (Phoebetria fusca) and Light-mantled Albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata))the two Giant petrels (Northern Giant petrel (Macronectes halli) and Southern Giant petrel (Macrone ... papua) (the one with the white stripe across its head)), and a number of petrels (the two Giant Petrels, Grey Petrel (Procellaria cinerea) and White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis)) ... turtur), Antarctic Tern (Sterna vittata), Cape Petrel (Daption capense), Black-bellied Storm Petrel (Fregetta tropica), Grey-backed Storm Petrel (Garrodia nereis), Blue Petrel (Halobaena caerulea), Wilson’s ...
... Monteiro's Storm Petrel, Oceanodroma monteiroi, is a species of seabird in the storm-petrel family, Hydrobatidae ... was once considered to be conspecific with the Band-rumped Storm Petrel ...
... The name "petrel" is a diminutive form of "Peter", a reference to Saint Peter it was given to these birds because they sometimes appear to walk across the water's surface ... The more specific 'storm petrel' or 'stormy petrel' is a reference to their habit of hiding in the lee of ships during storms ... birds "Mother Carey's Chickens" because they were thought to warn of oncoming storms this name is based on a corrupted form of Mater Cara, a name for the Blessed Virgin Mary ...
... name Scientific name Status Oceanitinae Wilson's Storm Petrel Oceanites oceanicus extant New Zealand Storm Petrel Oceanites maorianus extant Elliot's Storm Petrel Oceanites gracilis ...
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—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“Those who want to row on the ocean of human knowledge do not get far, and the storm drives those out of their course who set sail.”
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