Band-rumped storm petrel
species of bird
The band-rumped storm petrel, Madeiran storm petrel, or Harcourt's storm petrel (Hydrobates castro) is a species of storm petrel in the family Hydrobatidae.
Description
The band-rumped storm petrel is 19–21 cm (7.5–8.3 in) in length with a 43–46 cm (17–18 in) wingspan, and weighs 44–49 g (1.6–1.7 oz). It is mainly brownish black with an extensive white rump. Similar to Leach's storm petrel with the forked tail, long wings, but Leach's has a more deeply forked tail, a differently shaped (V-shaped or triangular) white rump, and a 'tern-like' flight, whereas the band-rumped storm-petrel has a more 'shearwater-like' flight.
Distribution
The species breeds on islands in the warmer parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. These include the Berlengas (a few tens of kilometres off mainland Portugal), the Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Saint Helena in the Atlantic, and in the Pacific off eastern Japan, on Kauai, Hawaii, and on the Galápagos Islands. In 2016, the species was reported to have also started breeding on the Mauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii.
Behaviour
Breeding
Birds nest in colonies close to the sea in rock crevices and females lay a single white egg per breeding attempt. The band-rumped storm petrel spends the non-breeding period at sea. It is strictly nocturnal at its breeding sites to avoid predation by gulls and diurnal raptors such as peregrines, and will even avoid coming to land on clear moonlit nights.
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This entry incorporates text from “Band-rumped storm petrel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.