BirdUp · Species
Wilson's Storm Petrel
Oceanites oceanicus(Kuhl, 1820)
- Order
- PROCELLARIIFORMES
- Family
- Oceanitidae
- Genus
- Oceanites
- Commonness
- Very common
- Best seen
- Year-round
01 · Identification
How to tell it apart
Wilson's storm petrel, 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 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 Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of Tethys. The species name is from Latin oceanus, "ocean".
Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
02 · Where
Where to find it
- Breeding range
- Islets in south Chilean fjords and Cape Horn Arch.; many is., coasts and inland sites in Antarctica; Falklands, South Georgia, Crozet, Heard, Kerguelen (south-west to south-east Indian Ocean) and Macquarie is. (far south-east of Australia)
- Non-breeding range
- Throughout world oceans except tropical and North Pacific
03 · When
When to look
Months this species is recorded across its Australian range.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
05 · Behaviour
Habits and haunts
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