Bulwer's Petrel Identification

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Bulwer's Petrel Photos and Videos

A small, all-dark petrel with a light-brown carpal bar running diagonally across the upper side of the wing.

A small, slim petrel with long, pointed wings and a tapered tail.

A small, all-dark petrel with long wings and a long, tapered tail. Flies close to the ocean surface, alternating short bursts of wingbeats with brief glides. Plucks fish from the water surface, sometimes while pattering with wings raised like a storm-petrel.

Typically flies low over the ocean, alternating a few short wingbeats with brief, twisting glides.

Note graduated tail, stout bill, and pale legs.

At a distance, note all-dark plumage; long, slender, pointed wings; and long tail tapering to a blunt point.

See more images of this species in Macaulay Library

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Identification

A small, slender petrel with long, narrow wings and a long tail. It is entirely dark brown except for diagonal buff-colored bars on the upper wings. The flight is usually low over the water, with fewer high arcs than other petrels. Nests on small islets off Kauai, Oahu, and Maui, and on most of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Commonly seen offshore from boats and sometimes from shore. The call, heard only at breeding colonies, is a soft bark.