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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 for a broad, white rump and a white band on the under wings, and it has a fluttering, bat-like flight. The large majority of the population breeds on islands off the northern coasts of Europe, with the greatest numbers in the Faroe Islands, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iceland. The Mediterranean population is a separate subspecies whose strongholds are Filfla Island (Malta), Sicily, and the Balearic Islands. This subspecies is indiscernible at sea from its Atlantic relatives.
The storm petrel nests in crevices and burrows, sometimes shared with other seabirds or rabbits, and lays a single white egg, usually on bare soil. The adults share the lengthy incubation and both feed the chick, which is not normally brooded after the first week. This bird is strongly migratory, spending the Northern Hemisphere winter mainly off the coasts of South Africa and Namibia, with some birds stopping in the seas adjoining West Africa, and a few remaining near their Mediterranean breeding islands. This petrel is strictly oceanic outside the breeding season. It feeds on small fish, squid, and zooplankton, while pattering on the sea's surface, and can find oily, edible items by smell. The food is converted in the bird's stomach to an oily orange liquid, which is regurgitated when the chick is fed. Although usually silent at sea, the storm petrel has a chattering call given by both members of a pair in their courtship flight. The male has a purring song given from the breeding chamber.
The storm petrel cannot survive on islands where land mammals such as rats and cats have been introduced, and it suffers natural predation from gulls, skuas, owls, and falcons. Although the population may be declining slightly, this petrel is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of least concern due to its high total numbers. Its presence in rough weather at sea has led to various mariners' superstitions, and by analogy, to its use as a symbol by revolutionary and anarchist groups.
The northern storm petrels, Hydrobatidae, are one of the four families of the Procellariiformes or "tubenoses", an order of seabirds that also includes the albatrosses in the family Diomedeidae, the petrels and shearwater in the family Procellariidae and the southern storm petrels in the family Oceanitidae. The northern storm petrels are more closely related to members of the family Procellariidae than they are to the southern storm petrels. The European storm petrel was formerly defined as the only member of the genus Hydrobates, the remainder of the Hydrobatinae being placed in Oceanodroma, although the least storm petrel was sometimes separated as the sole member of Halocyptena. Molecular phylogenetic studies found that Oceanodroma was paraphyletic with respect to Hydrobates. As a consequence, in 2021 all members of Oceanodroma were subsumed into an enlarged Hydrobates.
The storm petrel was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Procellaria pelagica. It was moved to the genus Hydrobates by Friedrich Boie in 1822. "Petrel", first recorded in 1602, is a corruption of pitteral, referring to the bird's pitter-pattering across the water. The suggestion that the word refers to St Peter's walking on the waves is a later invention. "Storm" arises from seamen's association of this bird with bad weather. In English, the name of the species was written as "stormy petrel" by some 19th-century authors.
The scientific name hydrobates derives from Greek "hydro-", from hydōr "water", and batēs "walker", and pelagicus from pelagikos "pelagic, of the (open) sea", from pelagos "sea, open sea, high sea". There are two recognised subspecies, the North Atlantic nominate subspecies, H. p. pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758), and the Mediterranean H. p. melitensis (Schembri, 1843). Although there is some genetic support for classifying the southern form as a separate species, the morphology is not considered sufficiently different from that of the nominate subspecies to justify a split.
The storm petrel is a small bird, 14–18 cm (5.5–7.1 in) in length with a 36–39 cm (14–15 in) wingspan. It weighs 20–38 g (0.71–1.34 oz), with an average of 28 g (0.99 oz). It is square-tailed and has all-black plumage except for a snow-white rump that extends to the sides of the tail base and a broad white band on the under wings. Juveniles in fresh plumage can also show a narrow white bar on the upper wing. The plumage becomes dark brown rather than black as it becomes worn. No obvious differences between the sexes are seen, although in the Mediterranean subspecies, at least, most captured birds can be sexed using a formula which involves multiplying the wing length by the length of the white rump band; females are slightly larger and have a longer white rump than males. The Mediterranean subspecies has longer wings and a heavier bill on average than the nominate form, but neither sex nor subspecies can be determined by observation at sea.
Moult is prolonged in all tubenoses, since they must maintain an ability to fly. Northern populations start replacing their plumage after those further south, reflecting the later start to their breeding season. Birds in a Welsh colony commenced moulting in early August, while populations in northern Spain and the Balearics started in early July and mid-June, respectively. Breeding birds moult later than non-breeders.
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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 for a broad, white rump and a white band on the under wings, and it has a fluttering, bat-like flight. The large majority of the population breeds on islands off the northern coasts of Europe, with the greatest numbers in the Faroe Islands, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iceland. The Mediterranean population is a separate subspecies whose strongholds are Filfla Island (Malta), Sicily, and the Balearic Islands. This subspecies is indiscernible at sea from its Atlantic relatives.
The storm petrel nests in crevices and burrows, sometimes shared with other seabirds or rabbits, and lays a single white egg, usually on bare soil. The adults share the lengthy incubation and both feed the chick, which is not normally brooded after the first week. This bird is strongly migratory, spending the Northern Hemisphere winter mainly off the coasts of South Africa and Namibia, with some birds stopping in the seas adjoining West Africa, and a few remaining near their Mediterranean breeding islands. This petrel is strictly oceanic outside the breeding season. It feeds on small fish, squid, and zooplankton, while pattering on the sea's surface, and can find oily, edible items by smell. The food is converted in the bird's stomach to an oily orange liquid, which is regurgitated when the chick is fed. Although usually silent at sea, the storm petrel has a chattering call given by both members of a pair in their courtship flight. The male has a purring song given from the breeding chamber.
The storm petrel cannot survive on islands where land mammals such as rats and cats have been introduced, and it suffers natural predation from gulls, skuas, owls, and falcons. Although the population may be declining slightly, this petrel is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of least concern due to its high total numbers. Its presence in rough weather at sea has led to various mariners' superstitions, and by analogy, to its use as a symbol by revolutionary and anarchist groups.
The northern storm petrels, Hydrobatidae, are one of the four families of the Procellariiformes or "tubenoses", an order of seabirds that also includes the albatrosses in the family Diomedeidae, the petrels and shearwater in the family Procellariidae and the southern storm petrels in the family Oceanitidae. The northern storm petrels are more closely related to members of the family Procellariidae than they are to the southern storm petrels. The European storm petrel was formerly defined as the only member of the genus Hydrobates, the remainder of the Hydrobatinae being placed in Oceanodroma, although the least storm petrel was sometimes separated as the sole member of Halocyptena. Molecular phylogenetic studies found that Oceanodroma was paraphyletic with respect to Hydrobates. As a consequence, in 2021 all members of Oceanodroma were subsumed into an enlarged Hydrobates.
The storm petrel was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Procellaria pelagica. It was moved to the genus Hydrobates by Friedrich Boie in 1822. "Petrel", first recorded in 1602, is a corruption of pitteral, referring to the bird's pitter-pattering across the water. The suggestion that the word refers to St Peter's walking on the waves is a later invention. "Storm" arises from seamen's association of this bird with bad weather. In English, the name of the species was written as "stormy petrel" by some 19th-century authors.
The scientific name hydrobates derives from Greek "hydro-", from hydōr "water", and batēs "walker", and pelagicus from pelagikos "pelagic, of the (open) sea", from pelagos "sea, open sea, high sea". There are two recognised subspecies, the North Atlantic nominate subspecies, H. p. pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758), and the Mediterranean H. p. melitensis (Schembri, 1843). Although there is some genetic support for classifying the southern form as a separate species, the morphology is not considered sufficiently different from that of the nominate subspecies to justify a split.
The storm petrel is a small bird, 14–18 cm (5.5–7.1 in) in length with a 36–39 cm (14–15 in) wingspan. It weighs 20–38 g (0.71–1.34 oz), with an average of 28 g (0.99 oz). It is square-tailed and has all-black plumage except for a snow-white rump that extends to the sides of the tail base and a broad white band on the under wings. Juveniles in fresh plumage can also show a narrow white bar on the upper wing. The plumage becomes dark brown rather than black as it becomes worn. No obvious differences between the sexes are seen, although in the Mediterranean subspecies, at least, most captured birds can be sexed using a formula which involves multiplying the wing length by the length of the white rump band; females are slightly larger and have a longer white rump than males. The Mediterranean subspecies has longer wings and a heavier bill on average than the nominate form, but neither sex nor subspecies can be determined by observation at sea.
Moult is prolonged in all tubenoses, since they must maintain an ability to fly. Northern populations start replacing their plumage after those further south, reflecting the later start to their breeding season. Birds in a Welsh colony commenced moulting in early August, while populations in northern Spain and the Balearics started in early July and mid-June, respectively. Breeding birds moult later than non-breeders.