Wilson's Storm-Petrel Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesWilson's Storm-Petrel
Tiny seabird with swallowlike proportions and flight. Note small head and bill, fairly short, broad wings, and long legs. Yellow webbing between toes is difficult to see but diagnostic.
© Peter Flood / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, July 21, 2018Tiny seabird with small bill and long legs. Charcoal brown with large white patch on rump and upper tail coverts, wrapping around onto undertail coverts. Widespread in world's oceans except North Pacific; fairly common in North Atlantic.
© Michael Fuhrer / Macaulay LibraryTasmania, October 31, 2019Tiny seabird with small bill and relatively short, broad wings. Toes project beyond tail tip in flight. Note pale grayish bands on wings, created by pale tips of greater coverts.
© Steve Kelling / Macaulay LibraryNorth Carolina, June 07, 2018Tiny seabird with short tubenosed bill. White rump patch wraps around onto undertail coverts. Molts flight feathers sequentially, creating gaps in the wing outline.
© Tom Reed / Macaulay LibraryNew Jersey, June 30, 2014Characteristic feeding behavior involves fluttering low over the water and pattering feet on the surface to maintain balance and stir up food particles. Note extensive white on undertail coverts.
© Derek Rogers / Macaulay LibraryNew York, August 09, 2017Tiny seabird with small tubenosed bill and fairly short, broad-based wings. Toes project beyond tail in flight. Large white rump patch wraps around onto undertail. Some individuals show very prominent pale bars in the wing.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryEl Callao, July 12, 2017Tiny charcoal brown seabird with prominent white rump patch. Toes project beyond the tail in flight.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryEl Callao, July 12, 2017Often forms flocks at sea and feeds by pattering on the water and plucking food items from the surface.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryNorth Carolina, June 04, 2005Forages on the open seas in most of the world's oceans except North Pacific. Rarely seen from land. Note extensive white on undertail coverts.
© Brian SullivanNorth Carolina, June 04, 2005Similar SpeciesLeach's Storm-Petrel
Leach's Storm-Petrels fly on longer, more arched wings with bounding movements, unlike the more direct flight of Wilson's Storm-Petrel. Leach's has a deeply notched tail, not the square tail of Wilson's. Leach's usually has limited white on undertail coverts, and many individuals have partially or completely dark rumps.
© Luke Seitz / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, August 22, 2015Similar SpeciesBand-rumped Storm-Petrel
Band-rumped Storm-Petrels have shorter legs than Wilson's, and their toes do not extend beyond the tail in flight.
© Nick Bonomo / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, August 22, 2015Similar SpeciesAshy Storm-Petrel
Ashy Storm-Petrel occurs in the North Pacific, outside the normal range of Wilson's Storm-Petrel. Ashy Storm-Petrels lack the white rump of Wilson's.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 24, 2019Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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