Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
of the
austral storm petrel family
Oceanitidae
Austral storm petrels, or southern storm petrels, are seabirds in the Family (biology), family Oceanitidae, part of the order Procellariiformes. These smallest of seabirds feed on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, ty ...
. 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 was estimated in 2022 as stable at 8 to 20 million birds.
In 2010 it had been estimated at 12–30 million.
A 1998 book had estimated more than 50 million pairs. The name commemorates the Scottish-American ornithologist
Alexander Wilson. The genus name ''Oceanites'' refers to the mythical
Oceanid
In Greek mythology, the Oceanids or Oceanides ( ; , ) are the nymphs who were the three thousand (a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable") daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys.
Description and function
The Oceanids' father Oceanu ...
s, the three thousand daughters of
Tethys. The species name is from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''oceanus'', "ocean".
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 nudum
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published ...
'' although some authors have reinstated it, noting that it can be distinguished by 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.
F. M. Littler and others called it the yellow-webbed storm-petrel.
Description

Wilson's storm petrel is a small
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
, in length with a wingspan. It is slightly larger than the
European storm petrel
The European storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus''), also known as British storm petrel, or just storm petrel, is a species of seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The small, square-tailed bird is entirely black except f ...
and is essentially dark brown in all plumages, except for the white rump and flanks. The feet extend just beyond the square ended tail in flight. The European storm petrel has a very distinct whitish lining to the underwing and a nearly all dark upperwing. Wilson's storm petrel has a diffuse pale band along the upper wing coverts and lacks the distinctive white underwing lining. The webbing between the toes is yellow with black spots in pre-breeding age individuals.
Distribution and habitat
This species breeds on the
Antarctic
The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole.
The Antar ...
coastlines and nearby islands such as the
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...
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
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
than the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
. Wilson's storm petrel is common off eastern
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
in the northern summer and the seasonal abundance of this bird in suitable
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an waters has been revealed through pelagic boat trips, most notably in the area of the
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...
and
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
.
It is strictly
pelagic
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...
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
plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...
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 the European storm petrel, it is highly gregarious, and will also follow ships and fishing boats. 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 or stormy petrel may refer to one of two bird family (biology), families, both in the order Procellariiformes, once treated as the same family.
The two families are:
* Northern storm petrels (''Hydrobatidae'') are found in the No ...
is strictly nocturnal at the breeding sites to avoid predation by larger
gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...
s and
skua
The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the Arctic skua, the long-tailed skua, and the pomarine skua, are called ...
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
Krill ''(Euphausiids)'' (: krill) are small and exclusively marine crustaceans of the order (biology), order Euphausiacea, found in all of the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian language, Norwegian word ', meaning "small ...
, fish and
amphipods
Amphipoda () is an order (biology), order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphip ...
. Adults have the ability to identify their nest burrows in the dark and their mates by olfactory cues.
Population estimates in Antarctica evaluate the species to have about between 10
5 and 10
6 pairs.
Widespread throughout its large range, Wilson's storm petrel is evaluated as
least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
on the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...
.
References
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.
* Orgeira, J.L. 1997. Nidificacion y habitat del Petrel de Wilson (Oceanites oceanicus) en Punta Cierva, Costa de Danco, peninsula Antarctica
esting 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.
*
* 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.
External links
Wilson’s Storm Petrel- ''The Atlas of Southern African Birds''
- British Trust for Ornithology
{{Taxonbar, from=Q607024
Wilson's storm petrel
Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly ...
Wilson's storm petrel
Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly ...
Birds of the Falkland Islands
Birds of islands of the Atlantic Ocean
Birds of subantarctic islands
Birds of the Indian Ocean
Fauna of Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Wilson's storm petrel
Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly ...
Wilson's storm petrel
Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly ...
Birds of Southern Africa