Storm petrel

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
European storm petrels of the family Hydrobatidae.
Wilson's storm petrel, of the family Oceanitidae.

Storm petrel may refer to one of two bird families, both in the order Procellariiformes, once treated as the same family.


Up and down! - up and down!
From the base of the wave to the billow’s crown,
And amidst the flashing and feathery foam
The stormy petrel finds a home, -
A home, if such a place may be
For her who lives on the wide, wide sea.

O’er the deep! - o’er the deep!
Where the whale and the shark and the sword-fish sleep, -
Outflying the blast and the driving rain,
The petrel telleth her tale — in vain!

From "The Stormy Petrel" poem by

Barry Cornwall[1]

The two families are:

Common name Scientific name Status
European storm petrel Hydrobates pelagicus LC
Fork-tailed storm petrel Hydrobates furcatus LC
Ringed storm petrel Hydrobates hornbyi NT
Leach's storm petrel Hydrobates leucorhous LC
Townsend's storm petrel Hydrobates socorroensis EN
Ainley's storm petrel Hydrobates cheimomnestes VU
Swinhoe's storm petrel Hydrobates monorhis NT
Ashy storm petrel Hydrobates homochroa EN
Band-rumped storm petrel Hydrobates castro LC
Monteiro's storm petrel Hydrobates monteiroi VU
Cape Verde storm petrel Hydrobates jabejabe LC
Wedge-rumped storm petrel Hydrobates tethys LC
Black storm petrel Hydrobates melania LC
Guadalupe storm petrel Hydrobates macrodactylus CR (Probably Extinct)
Markham's storm petrel Hydrobates markhami NT
Matsudaira's storm petrel Hydrobates matsudairae VU
Tristram's storm petrel Hydrobates tristrami LC
Least storm petrel Hydrobates microsoma LC
  • Southern storm petrels (Oceanitidae) are found in all oceans, although only white-faced storm petrel (breeding in the North Atlantic, in addition to the Southern Ocean) and Wilson's storm petrels (on migration) are found in the Northern Hemisphere.
Common name Scientific name Status
Wilson's storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus LC
Pincoya storm petrel Oceanites pincoyae DD
Elliot's storm petrel Oceanites gracilis DD
Grey-backed storm petrel Garrodia nereis LC
White-faced storm petrel Pelagodroma marina LC
White-bellied storm petrel Fregetta grallaria LC
New Zealand storm petrel Fregetta maoriana CR
Black-bellied storm petrel or Gould's storm petrel Fregetta tropica LC
Polynesian storm petrel (including white-throated storm petrel) Nesofregetta fuliginosa EN

References