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3

White-faced Storm-Petrel (Pelagodroma marina) Alternate name(s): "White-faced Petrel", "Frigate Petrel", "White-breasted Storm-Petrel" Aboriginal name(s): "ngit" (WA) Size: 18-21 cm; wing span 38-43 cm Weight: 43-72 g

Australia: Family Group 3 Family Group 3 table Southern Fulmar Antarctic Petrel Cape Petrel Mottled Petrel Black-winged Petrel Providence Petrel Grey-faced Petrel Kermadec Petrel Soft-plumaged Petrel Tahiti Petrel Buller's Shearwater Wedge-tailed Shearwater Flesh-footed Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Short-tailed Shearwater Fluttering Shearwater Hutton's Shearwater Little Shearwater Antarctic Prion Slender-billed Prion Fairy Prion Southern Giant-Petrel Northern Giant-Petrel Light-mantled Albatross Wandering Albatross Southern Royal Albatross Northern Royal Albatross Black-browed Albatross Campbell Albatross Buller's Albatross Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Shy Albatross Common Diving-Petrel Wilson's Storm-Petrel New Zealand Storm-Petrel White-faced Storm-Petrel Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description White-faced Storm-Petrels are small seabirds. Their plumage has colours ranging from white to dark-grey. The crown, neck, back and the upperwing coverts are mid-grey, with lighter edges, giving especially the wing coverts a scalloped appearance. The rump is lighter-grey, while the flight feathers and the tail are both dark-grey. Except for conspicuous dark-grey eye-stripes, the rest of the head is white. The head is framed by a mid-grey collar, while the rest of the underside of the body is white. Also the underwing coverts are white, while the underside of the flight feathers is dark-grey, as is the undertail. The legs are long and protrude conspicuously beyond the tip of the tail in flight. The bill, which is long and narrow and has a small knob, and the legs are dark-grey, while the (often dangling) dark-grey feet have yellow webbing.

Taxonomy, classification See White-faced Storm-Petrel at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the White-faced Storm-Petrel is available HERE . White-faced Storm-Petrels populate the oceans on both the northern and the southern hemisphere. While most reports stem from waters around Australia and New Zealand, White-faced Storm-Petrels are also regularly observed in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean (on islands and off the western coast of Iberia and North-west Africa), in the western North Atlantic (along the East coast of the US and Canada, including New Foundland) and in the eastern South Pacific (along the coastline of South America and on the tropical islands to the West of central America). Some sightings have also been recorded in the Indian Ocean (from the south-eastern African coastline to Oman and India) and in the South Atlantic Ocean (islands off western Argentina and in the central southern Atlantic). Around Australia White-faced Storm-Petrels are found primarily along the edge of the continental shelf outside the tropics. Only on the Great Barrier Reef they are regularly spotted in Australian tropical waters. To the South of the Australian continent, White-faced Storm-Petrels populate not only the open sea, but they are also found on and around the southern Australian islands, where race "dulciae" is found breeding. When not breeding, White-faced Storm-Petrels will mostly stay on the high seas, but they do also enter coastal waters. They breed on offshore islands.

Sightings Click here for sighting information M. Eaton reports finding White-faced Storm-Petrels 22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, in April 2018. M. Roderick found White-faced Storm-Petrels 22 off Port Stephens, NSW, in September 2020.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a White-faced Storm-Petrel on the surface of the water, with a view of its underwing pattern; note the characteristic facial pattern and the paired feet - White-faced Storm-Petrels do not walk on water, but they bound forward - click on image to see Wedge-tailed Shearwaters for comparison (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Lateral view of a White-faced Storm-Petrel just after touching down on the water's surface (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Off Port Stephens, NSW, September 2020]

Dorsal view of a White-faced Storm-Petrel on the surface of the water (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Near-frontal view of a White-faced Storm-Petrel in low flight; note the yellow webbing (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Off Port Stephens, NSW, September 2020]

Near-lateral view of a White-faced Storm-Petrel in low flight (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Off Port Stephens, NSW, September 2020]

Lateral view of a White-faced Storm-Petrel in flight - click on image for a wider overview showing the typical, low flight of the bird
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Lateral view of a White-faced Storm-Petrel in low, hovering flight, with a Wedge-tailed Shearwater for comparison
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Lateral view of a White-faced Storm-Petrel in low flight, with two Wilson's Storm-Petrels for comparison
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a White-faced Storm-Petrel in primary moult (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Wed, 16 September 2020, 23:03 +00:00