User:Amyiwami9/Band-rumped storm petrel

Amy Iwami Subject Name

08 October 2021

Band-rumped storm petrel

The Band-rumped storm petrel otherwise known as Madeiran storm petrel is a dark blackish brown bird with a white narrow V-shaped rump that goes around the sides. It’s scientific name is Oceanordroma Castro. The bird is about 19-21 cm long, has a 43-46 cm wingspan, and usually weighs around 44-49 g (Wikipedia). There are about 150,000 Band-rumped storm petrels in the world but around 240 of those birds are in the Hawaiian population. You can find these birds nesting on isolated islands or spending most of their time at sea (American Bird Conservancy).

Other than the bird being 19-21 cm long, 43-46 cm in wingspan, and 44-40g, the Band-rumped is to be the same weight as a golf ball. The bird has a squared-tipped tail and a white band that wraps around the body. These birds are known to explore all over the place from boats off of the Gulf of Mexico ( American Bird Conservancy). Their flying is high and smooth because of their long wings which helps them to fly (Band-Rumped Storm-Petrel - Ebird).

The Band-rumped storm petrel breeds on the warmer parts of the islands in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. Places like the Berlengas, Azores, Canary Islands, Galapagos Islands, Saint Helena, and Madeira. Also places like Japan, Kauai, and Hawaii which are places they are found to breed on. There was also a report in 2018 that the birds started to breed on the Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii (Wikipedia).

Band-rumped Storm-Petrels spend most of their non-breeding life at sea. They eat small fish, squid, and crustaceans. Something that the birds are known to do is that they often “tap dance” along the water with their feet and flap their wings just above wave crests. This helps them to scoop up prey with their bill at, or just below the surface of the sea (Kauaʻi Endangered Seabird Recovery Project).

Storm-petrels are super small birds that are hard to observe at sea, and hard to identify. Band-rumped Storm-Petrels are often seen from boats during their breeding season from May through September when most other species of storm-petrels are rare in Hawaiian waters which makes them so significant. Since they are rare to find because it depends on when they are breeding they will be hard to observe (​​Kauaʻi Endangered Seabird Recovery Project).