Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Storm Petrels Leach's Petrel Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Procellariiformes Family: Hydrobatidae Genera Oceanites Pelagodroma Fregatta Neofregatta Garrodia Hydrobates Oceanodroma Halocyptena The storm-petrels are seabirds in the family Hydrobatidae, part of the order Procellariiformes. These smallest of seabirds, relatives of the petrels, feed on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like. Storm-petrels have a cosmopolitan distribution, being found in all oceans. They are strictly pelagic, coming to land only when breeding. In the case of most species, little is known of their behaviour and distribution at sea, where they can be hard to find and harder to identify. Storm-petrels nest in colonies on islands, arriving in the evenings. One white egg is laid in a burrow in turf or soft soil. Both sexes incubate in shifts of up to six days. The egg hatches after 40 or 50 days; the young is brooded continuously for another 7 days or so before being left alone in the nest during the day and fed by regurgitation at night. Nestlings and parents leave the nest together after 60 or 70 days. There are two subfamilies. The Oceanitinadae are mostly found in southern waters; there are 7 species in 5 genera. These have short wings, square tails, elongated skulls, and feed by hopping and fluttering on the water. All but one species have white underparts; the exception is Wilson's Storm-Petrel which is also the only one to regularly migrate any great distance into the northern hemisphere. The Hydrobatinae are thought to descend from an ancestor of Wilson's Storm-Petrel. The 14 species in 3 closely related genera have longer wings, forked or wedge-shaped tails, and walk on the water rather than hop. All but two are dark in colour. They are largely restricted to the northern hemisphere, although a few can visit or breed a short distance beyond the equator. ORDER PROCELLARIIFORMES Family Procellariidae (shearwaters, fulmars, petrels, and prionss) Family Diomedeidae (albatrosses) FAMILY HYDROBATIDAE (storm-petrels) Subfamily Oceanitinadae Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Oceanites oceanicus New Zealand Storm-Petrel, Oceanites maorianus. This may be a subspecies of Wilson's White-vented Storm-Petrel, Oceanites gracilis Grey-backed Storm-Petrel, Garrodia nereis White-faced Storm-Petrel, Pelagodroma marina Black-bellied Storm-Petrel or Gould's Storm-Petrel, Fregatta tropica White-bellied Storm-Petrel, Fregatta grallaria Polynesian Storm-Petrel, Nesofregetta fuliginosa Subfamily Hydrobatinae European Storm-Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus Leach's Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhea Matsudaira's Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma matsudairae Least Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma microsoma Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma tethys Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma castro Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma monorhis Guadalupe Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma macrodactyla Tristram's Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma tristrami Markham's Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma markhami Black Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma melania Ashy Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma homochroa Ringed Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma hornbyi Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma furcata Family Pelecanoididae (diving petrels) This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.