Wilson's storm petrel - Oceanites oceanicus

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Scientific Name Oceanites oceanicus
Author (Kuhl, 1820)
Taxonomic Rank Species
Taxonomic # 174650
Common Names English: Wilson's Storm Petrel
English: Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Spanish: Paíño de Wilson
French: Océanite de Wilson
Current Standing valid
Taxonomic Parents Kingdom: Animalia
  Phylum: Chordata
    Subphylum: Vertebrata
      Class: Aves
        Order: Procellariiformes
          Family: Hydrobatidae
            Subfamily: Oceanitinae
              Genus: Oceanites
Taxonomic Children Subspecies: Oceanites oceanicus exasperatus
Subspecies: Oceanites oceanicus oceanicus
Synonyms (since 1950)

Taxonomic data is courtesy of the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
See ITIS metadata in XML

Physical Description / Field Identification

Wilson’s Storm-petrels are named after the Scottish-American ornithologist, Alexander Wilson. They are small dark brownish birds (16-19 cm in length, 38-42 cm wingspan) with short, rounded wings and long legs, with a pale wing patch and a white shaped band on their rump. When flying, their legs will trail behind their rounded or square tail. Wilson’s Storm-petrels have external tubular nostrils, from which they excrete the salt that accumulates in their body tissues and air in odor detection for locating prey. Wilson’s Storm-petrels are best suited a marine or pelagic distribution, as they have limited walking ability on land.

Can be Confused With

Many of the storm-petrels are easily confused with one another, due to their small size and similar appearances. Wilson’s Storm-petrels are often mistaken to be Leach’s or Band-rumped Storm-petrels. Wilson’s Storm-petrels are much smaller in size than each of these species, but size can often be a difficult indicator in the field. The flight patterns of each can be one feature used to distinguish them. Leach’s Storm-petrels have an erratic flight, Band-rumped Storm-petrels fly much like a shearwater, and Wilson’s Storm-petrels have a fluttery light with deep wingbeats. Wilson’s Storm-petrels can be confused with the Wedge-rumped Storm-petrel on the western coast of the United States, but distinctive differences are apparent in the banding pattern on their tails. Wedge-rumped Storm-petrels have a deep ‘V’ in the white band on their tail, which causes the tail to look white with black corners. Wilson’s Storm-petrels have a more rounded band on their tail.

Distribution

Wilson’s Storm-petrels have a large range, considering their small size, and are pelagic outside of the breeding season. Their breeding grounds are located in the Antarctic, during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer months (Northern Hemisphere’s winter). The rest of the year, they can be found in all oceans, more common in the North Atlantic than the North Pacific during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter.

Ecology and Behavior

Wilson’s Storm-petrels breed on the coastlines and nearby islands of Antarctica. They lay a single white egg. Nests are built in colonies in rock crevices or in shallow burrows in the ground. Due to predation by gulls and skuas in their breeding grounds, Wilson’s Storm-petrels are slightly nocturnal throughout the breeding season. Year to year, Wilson’s Storm-petrels display strong site fidelity to nesting grounds.

Feeding and Prey

Wilson’s Storm-petrels feed primarily on plankton and other small organisms, such as protozoa, bacteria, macroalgae, fish eggs, larval fish and crustacean larvae. They are “surface seizers” when feeding, as they hover at the surface pattering their feet on the surface, which causes them to look like they are walking on the water. They capture prey by using their bills while hovering right above the surface of the water.

Threats and Status

Wilson’s Storm-petrels are considered to be of “least concern” according to the IUCN Red List. They are not believed to be approaching thresholds for population decline, as their population is estimated to be around 6 million, and they are considered to be one of the most abundant species of birds.

Links

References

IUCN. Accessed 2011. IUCN Redlist of threatened species: Oceanites oceanicus. Available online here.

BirdLife International. Accessed 2011. Wilson’s Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus. Available online here.

Wikipedia. Accessed 2011. Wilson’s Storm-petrel. Available online here.

National Geographic Society. 2002. Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 4th ed. National Geographic, Washington, DC.

Ward, N. 1995. Stellwagen Bank: A guide to whales, sea birds, and marine life of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Down East Books, Camden, ME.

ITIS TSN174650
Status - ESA, U.S. FWS
    -
Status - Red List, IUCN
    LC (Global)
#records (spatial)18,096
#records (non-spatial)0
#datasets55
Year1910 - 2021
Latitude-78.55 - 62.85
Longitude-177.37 - 179.32
See metadata in static HTML