Fregetta grallaria
The White-bellied Storm Petrel (Fregetta grallaria) is a diminutive yet robust pelagic seabird, renowned for its distinctive foraging style and wide-ranging oceanic distribution. Measuring approximately 17-20 cm (6.7-7.9 in) in length with a wingspan of 45-48 cm (17.7-18.9 in) and weighing 45-70 g (1.6-2.5 oz), it exhibits a striking plumage of sooty blackish-brown upperparts that contrast sharply with its pristine white underparts, extending from the throat to the belly. A prominent white ru...
This is a strictly pelagic species, inhabiting the open ocean far from land, primarily in tropical and subtropical waters. It returns to remote oceanic islands for breeding, typically nesting in burrows or rock crevices at low to moderate elevations.
Their diet primarily consists of small crustaceans (especially euphausiids and copepods), planktonic organisms, small fish, and cephalopods, often supplemented by marine offal and oil slicks.
White-bellied Storm Petrels are primarily diurnal foragers, though their activity at breeding colonies is strictly nocturnal, a strategy to evade predatory gulls and skuas. Their foraging is iconic: they often 'walk' or 'hydroplane' on the surface of the water, pattering their long legs to mainta...
The White-bellied Storm Petrel has a wide, though disjunct, breeding distribution on remote oceanic islands across the South Atlantic, South Pacific, and southern Indian Oceans. Key breeding sites include Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island in the South Atlantic; the Juan Fernández and Desventurada...
Least Concern
- The White-bellied Storm Petrel is one of the few birds that appears to 'walk' or 'dance' on the surface of the ocean, a behavior called hydroplaning, using its feet to propel itself while picking food. - Despite its small size, it undertakes extensive trans-equatorial migrations, traveling from...