Leach's Storm-Petrel
Hydrobates leucorhous
Fairly large, long-winged storm-petrel with deeply notched tail. Complex and subtle variation across extensive range. Typical flight style is somewhat bat-like: bounding with jolting twists and turns. Plumage looks chocolatey-brown in good light; paler than Wilson's or Band-rumped Storm-Petrel and with more extensive buffy bar on upperwing. Rump color is variable; birds in the Atlantic have a mostly white rump, usually with a thin dark line down the center. Pacific birds are more variable, sometimes completely dark-rumped, especially "Chapman's" Storm-Petrel (southern California to South America). Occurs in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. Fairly common but stays far offshore; rarely seen from land. Compare especially with Band-rumped Storm-Petrel; on Leach's, look for more obvious pale upperwing bar, more deeply notched tail, and bounding flight style.
Identification
Leach's petrel, known in some rural areas (particularly in Newfoundland) as Mother Carey's chicks, Carey chicks, or Careys, is a small bird at 18–21 cm in length with a 43– to 48-cm wingspan. Like many other storm petrels, it has all-dark plumage and usually a white rump. However, dark-rumped individuals exist on the west coast of North America; they are very rare north of southern California, but the percentage increases suddenly on the United States-Mexico border, where 90-100% of breeding birds are dark-rumped. In Europe, it can be readily distinguished from the European storm petrel and Wilson's storm petrel by its larger size, forked tail, different rump pattern, and flight behavior. Identification in the Americas, however, proves more difficult. On the Atlantic Coast, separating this species from band-rumped storm petrels is difficult; identification involves characteristics such as the extent of white on the rump and flight pattern. Discerning this species from others is arguably hardest on the Pacific Coast, where the dark-rumped form can be confused with at least three other all-dark storm petrel species. Here, identification involves close attention to wingbeats and overall color. It has a fluttering flight, and patters on the water as it picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow.
Taxonomy
Genus: Hydrobates; Family: Hydrobatidae; Order: Procellariiformes.
- Scientific name
- Hydrobates leucorhous
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1818)
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Hydrobatidae
- Genus
- Hydrobates
Range and habitat
It is strictly pelagic outside the breeding season, and this, together with its remote breeding sites, makes Leach's petrel a difficult bird to see from land. Only in storms might this species be pushed into headlands. Unlike the European storm petrel, it does not follow ships. In Europe, the best chance of seeing this species is in September in Liverpool Bay between north Wales and England. Strong north-westerlies funnel migrating Leach's petrels into this bay. British ornithologists Robert Atkinson and John Ainslie observed the communities of Leach's petrel on the remote Scottish islands of North Rona between 16 July and 12 August 1936, and on Sula Sgeir between 3 and 4 August 1939. The bird was first photographed at the nest in 1958, on Eilean Mor, one of the Flannan Isles off the west coast of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, by Jo Moran.
- Breeding range
- PO, AO : ne Atlantic from s Iceland, Faroe Is., c Norway, Ireland and Scotland; nw Atlantic from s Labrador to Massachusetts; nw Pacific from ne Russia and ne Japan to Alaska and n, c Baja California (nw Mexico); also off sw Africa
- Non-breeding range
- to tropical Pacific Ocean mainly n of Tropic of Capricorn, and tropical Atlantic, reaching s Africa in temperate se Atlantic Ocean
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Eurasian Kestrel
Falco tinnunculus
Small falcon with distinctive male plumage: gray head, rusty back, gray tail with broad black tip. Female is brownish above, with barring on the back, wings, and tail. Note rather pointed wingtips (unlike rounded wings of Accipiter hawks), and distinct dark spotting on the breast. Inhabits open and lightly wooded country, farmlands, grasslands, and heathlands; often seen over grassy areas beside roads and at airports. Perches on wires and posts, and typically hunts by hovering, at times fairly high overhead. Very similar to Lesser Kestrel.
Snow Bunting
Plectrophenax nivalis
Bold black-and-white wing patches are distinctive in flight. Nonbreeding birds are overall white below with warm brown and orange tones on head and back. During the breeding season they are white with black or gray on the back. Breeds on tundra at northern latitudes; forms flocks in the winter and moves south, often joining up with other species of field birds. Listen for distinctive tittering rattle and “tew” calls as they fly overhead. Foraging flocks also gives harsher buzzy calls.
White-naped Yuhina
Yuhina bakeri
Exquisite yuhina with an orange head and crest with white ears and throat. Nape is not obviously pale, but the white “trim” to the back edge of the crest is noticeable. Forages in broadleaf forests from lower foothills up to montane areas. Social and often seen in large flocks, occasionally with other species. Vocal; gives a range of calls, including fluid-sounding twitters and a nasal bleating.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.