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Difference between revisions of "Leach's Storm Petrel" - BirdForum Opus

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;Oceanodroma leucorhoa
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{{incomplete}}
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[[Image:Leachs_Storm_Petrel.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by Glen Tepke]]
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[[Image:Leachs_Petrel.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by {{user|Steve+Seal|Steve Seal}}<br />location: Draycote Water, [[UK]]]]
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'''Alternative name: Leach's Petrel'''
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'''Includes: Chapman's Storm Petrel'''
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;[[:Category:Hydrobates|Hydrobates]] leucorhous
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'' Oceanodroma leucorhoa''
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==Identification==
 
==Identification==
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location: Gulf of Maine about 20 miles southeast of Mt. Desert Island, Maine, USA
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A small seabird of the tubenose family. It is named after the British zoologist William Elford Leach.
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8-21 cm. Dark plumage and white rump with a black line through it. Forked tail
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==Distribution==
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Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
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==Taxonomy==
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This is a [[Dictionary_P-S#P|polytypic]] species<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup> consisting of 2 subspecies.
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===Subspecies===
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* ''H. l. leucorhous''
  
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The Leach's Storm-petrel or Leach's Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) is a small seabird of the tubenose family. It is named after the British zoologist William Elford Leach.
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Breeds in the north Pacific, from northeastern Japan through the Kuril and Aleutian Islands to southeastern Alaska, south to central California (Farallon Islands); and in the north Atlantic from the northeastern USA (Massachusetts, Maine) and eastern Canada east to Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, northern Scotland, and northwestern Norway;
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* ''H. l. chapmani''
  
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It breeds on inaccessible islands in the colder northern areas of the Atlantic and Pacific. It nests in colonies close to the sea in well concealed areas such as rock crevices, shallow burrows or even logs. It lays a single white egg which often has a faint ring of spots at the large end. This storm-petrel is strictly nocturnal at the breeding sites to avoid predation by gulls and skuas, and will even avoid coming to land on clear moonlit nights. The largest colony of Leach's Storm-petrels can be found on Baccalieu Island of eastern Canada, an ecological reserve with more than 3 million pairs of the bird.
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Found in Coronados Islands and San Benito Islands (northwest [[Mexico]])
  
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The Leach's Petrel is a small bird at 18-21 cm in length with a 43-48 cm wingspan, but is distinctly larger than the European Storm-petrel, which it superficially resembles with its dark plumage and white rump. It has a fluttering flight, and patters on the water surface as it picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface. It can be distinguished from the European Storm-petrel and the Wilson's Storm-petrel by its larger size, forked tail, different rump pattern and flight behaviour. Some north-eastern Pacific Leach's Petrels show all-dark rumps. Like most petrels, its walking ability is limited to a short shuffle to the burrow.
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Formerly considered conspecific with [[Townsend's Storm Petrel]] and [[Ainley's Storm Petrel]].
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==Distribution==
 
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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 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 the 16 July and 12 August 1936, and on Sula Sgeir between the 3 and 4 August 1939.
 
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==Taxonomy==
 
 
==Habitat==
 
==Habitat==
 
Close to the sea in well concealed areas such as rock crevices, shallow burrows.
 
Close to the sea in well concealed areas such as rock crevices, shallow burrows.
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Can turn up on lakes and reservoirs, many miles inland, as a result of storms
 
==Behaviour==
 
==Behaviour==
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Lifespan for this bird is unusually long for a bird of such rather small size, with an average of 20 years and a maximum recorded lifespan of 36 years. In 2003, Haussmann et al. found that the bird's telomeres lengthen with age, the only known example to date of such a phenomenon. It is rather likely, however, that this phenomenon also occurs in other members of the Procellariiformes, which all have a rather long lifespan compared to their size.
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====Breeding====
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1 white egg is laid. Visits the nest only at night
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====Diet====
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Small fish and crustaceans
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====Vocalisation====
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{{ Audio|Oceanodroma leucorhoa (song).mp3 }}
  
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==References==
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#{{Ref-Clements6thAug21}}#{{Ref-GillDonsker16V6.3}}
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{{ref}}
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==External Links==
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{{GSearch|Oceanodroma+leucorhoa}}
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Birdforum thread: How to see a Leach's Storm Petrel in the UK: [[http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=23062]]
  
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Bird Song
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[[Category:Birds]][[Category:Bird Songs]][[Category:Hydrobates]]
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<flashmp3>Oceanodroma leucorhoa (song).mp3</flashmp3><br />
 
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''[[Media:Oceanodroma leucorhoa (song).mp3|Listen in an external program]]''
 
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==External Links==
 
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*[http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showgallery.php?mcats=all&what=allfields&si=Oceanodroma+leucorhoa View more images of Leach's Storm Petrel in the gallery]
 
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[[Category:Birds]]
 

Latest revision as of 11:54, 22 January 2022


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Photo by Steve Seal
location: Draycote Water, UK

Alternative name: Leach's Petrel Includes: Chapman's Storm Petrel

Hydrobates leucorhous

Oceanodroma leucorhoa

Identification

A small seabird of the tubenose family. It is named after the British zoologist William Elford Leach.

8-21 cm. Dark plumage and white rump with a black line through it. Forked tail

Distribution

Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Taxonomy

This is a polytypic species[1] consisting of 2 subspecies.

Subspecies

  • H. l. leucorhous

Breeds in the north Pacific, from northeastern Japan through the Kuril and Aleutian Islands to southeastern Alaska, south to central California (Farallon Islands); and in the north Atlantic from the northeastern USA (Massachusetts, Maine) and eastern Canada east to Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, northern Scotland, and northwestern Norway;

  • H. l. chapmani

Found in Coronados Islands and San Benito Islands (northwest Mexico)

Formerly considered conspecific with Townsend's Storm Petrel and Ainley's Storm Petrel.

Habitat

Close to the sea in well concealed areas such as rock crevices, shallow burrows.

Can turn up on lakes and reservoirs, many miles inland, as a result of storms

Behaviour

Breeding

1 white egg is laid. Visits the nest only at night

Diet

Small fish and crustaceans

Vocalisation

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2016. IOC World Bird Names (version 6.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.

Recommended Citation

External Links

Birdforum thread: How to see a Leach's Storm Petrel in the UK: [[1]]

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