Wilson's Storm Petrel

How to identify

Field marks

1. Dark brown overall except for white rump and flanks
2. A single indistinct pale band across upperwing coverts
3. Webbing between toes yellow
4. Tail tip square, legs and feet project slightly beyond tail in flight

Male, female and young

Immatures have black spots on the webbing of the feet.

Voice

Gives faint squeaks when foraging.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: January–February and November · Most records: Antarctica, United States, Chile

Wilson's Storm Petrel has been recorded at 168 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 36 countries and regions.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Eaglehawk Neck Pelagic TripAustralia1,249 records
2. Valparaíso – PelágicoChile726 records
3. Quintero – PelágicoChile678 records

Countries and regions with the most records

AntarcticaUnited StatesChileSouth Georgia & South Sandwich IslandsAustraliaNew ZealandFalkland IslandsIreland

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

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 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 8–20 million birds.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

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