Hydrobates leucorhous
Leach's Storm Petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) is a small, enigmatic seabird of the open ocean, renowned for its erratic, butterfly-like flight and habit of "walking" on the water's surface. Measuring approximately 18-21 cm (7-8 inches) in length with a wingspan of 43-48 cm (17-19 inches) and weighing 35-50 g (1.2-1.8 oz), it exhibits a sooty-brown plumage, a distinctive forked tail, and a prominent white rump patch often bisected by a dark central line, a key identification feature. This speci...
Primarily a pelagic species, Leach's Storm Petrel spends almost its entire life at sea, only coming ashore to remote, predator-free islands and coastal cliffs for breeding, typically at low elevations.
Leach's Storm Petrels feed primarily on zooplankton, small crustaceans, small fish, squid, and occasionally oily carrion, often picking items from the surface of the water while in flight or "pattering."
Highly nocturnal at its breeding colonies, Leach's Storm Petrel avoids predation by arriving and departing under the cover of darkness, spending daylight hours concealed within burrows or rock crevices. At sea, it is largely diurnal, foraging actively by dipping and skimming its bill into the wat...
Leach's Storm Petrel boasts a vast circumpolar breeding distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, with major colonies spanning both the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. In the Atlantic, significant populations breed on islands off Eastern Canada (e.g., Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec) an...
Vulnerable
- Leach's Storm Petrels have an incredibly developed sense of smell, which they use to locate their burrows in dense colonies and to find patchy food sources far out at sea. - They are one of the longest-lived small birds, with individuals recorded living over 30 years in the wild. - The "storm p...