Fregetta tropica
The Black-bellied Storm Petrel (Fregetta tropica) is a small, enigmatic seabird of the southern oceans, instantly recognizable by its striking black ventral stripe extending from throat to vent, contrasting sharply with its brilliant white flanks and rump. Averaging 20-22 cm in length with a wingspan of 46-50 cm and weighing 45-70 grams, its upperparts are sooty black, offset by a distinctive white bar on the underwing. This species is unique among storm petrels for its remarkably long legs, ...
Exclusively pelagic, the Black-bellied Storm Petrel spends almost its entire life over open ocean waters, only returning to remote subantarctic islands and rocky outcrops for breeding.
The diet consists predominantly of small crustaceans, especially euphausiids (krill), as well as fish larvae, small cephalopods, and oily surface scums, often gathered while pattering on the water's surface.
Primarily diurnal at sea, the Black-bellied Storm Petrel transitions to a nocturnal existence at its breeding colonies, a crucial strategy to evade predatory skuas and gulls. Its most iconic foraging technique involves "walking on water," where it patters its long legs on the surface, wings held ...
The Black-bellied Storm Petrel boasts a circum-polar breeding distribution across the subantarctic islands of the Southern Ocean. Major breeding colonies are found on South Georgia, Crozet, Kerguelen, Prince Edward, Antipodes, and Auckland Islands, typically nesting in burrows or rock crevices. F...
Least Concern
- The Black-bellied Storm Petrel is one of the few birds that truly "walks" on water, using its remarkably long legs to patter along the surface while feeding. - It spends almost its entire life at sea, only coming ashore to breed on remote, often uninhabited, subantarctic islands. - To avoid pre...