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Wilson's Storm-Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) Alternate name(s): "Wilson's Petrel", "Flat-clawed Storm-Petrel" Size: 15-19 cm; wing span 38-42 cm Body mass: 35-45 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.26

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 Blue Petrel 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

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Wilson's Storm-Petrels are small seabirds. Their plumage is all dark-grey, except for the white rump and flanks and a lighter grey crescent on the greater upperwing coverts. The tail is squarish and often formed into a "V"-shape. The legs are long and protrude conspicuously beyond the end of the tail in flight. The bill, which has a small knob, and the legs are dark-grey, while the (often dangling) feet have yellow webbing.

Taxonomy, classification See Wilson's 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 Wilson's Storm-Petrel is available HERE . Wilson's Storm-Petrels are the smallest animals breeding on the Antarctic continent and on antarctic islands in the southern summer. From there they migrate northward after the breeding season, into all southern oceans. In the southern winter they will reach all tropical waters around the globe and move on to the northern hemisphere. In the Atlantic Ocean they are found as far North as Spain and the American East coast, in the Pacific Ocean well North of Hawaii and in the Indian Ocean they reach the coastlines of the sub-continent. Around Australia Wilson's Storm-Petrels can be found basically anywhere at sea during their migration, except for the Coral Sea with the Great Barrier Reef and the northern tropical waters (Arafura Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria), where they are rarely seen. When not breeding, Wilson's 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 J. Greaves reports spotting a Wilson's Storm-Petrel a few NM off the coast of south-western WA at Flinders Bay, Augusta, in May 2015. M. Eaton reports finding Wilson's Storm-Petrels 22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, in April 2018.

Photos

ADULT

Near-lateral view of a Wilson's Petrel at the surface of the water; this photo exhibits several characteristic features of the species, such as the white rump and flanks, but otherwise dark-grey body and the yellow webbing on the feet; note also the roundish wing tips (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Wilson's Petrel feeding at the surface of the water; note the tail held in the shape of a broad "V", which is typical of various species of storm-petrels, and the short, broad lighter-grey arch on the upperwing coverts (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Lateral view of a Wilson's Petrel rising from the surface of the water (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a Wilson's Petrel rising from the surface of the water; this perspective gives a clear view of the white rump and flanks, while the rest of the body is all dark-grey (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Wilson's Storm-Petrel hovering low above the water; this photo gives the jizz of the species when seen from a distance
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Wilson's Storm-Petrel hovering low above the water near the coastline of south-western WA (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Flinders Bay, Augusta, WA]

Comparison of a Wilson's Storm-Petrel, lower right, with a Providence Petrel, upper left (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, April 2018]

Behaviour

Wilson's Storm-Petrel breeds on sub-Antarctic islands in the southern summer. The rest of the year they are strictly pelagic and usually staying far enough out at sea to not be visible from land (but only on pelagic boat trips).

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.