European Storm Petrel

Hydrobates pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Hydrobatidae — Northern Storm Petrels

European Storm Petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus, breeds on islets in the North Atlantic from southern Iceland and northern Norway to northern Spain, the Canary Islands, western Africa and the western and north-central Mediterranean. It is a seabird in the northern storm petrel family, and its breeding range is centred on islands off Europe. The bird is linked with the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, and the Mediterranean population is treated separately in the reference. It is a small, square-tailed species with a fluttering, bat-like flight, and it is mostly black with a white rump and a pale band on the underwing.

Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Hydrobatidae — Northern Storm Petrels
Breeding range: Atlantic Ocean: islets of ne North Atlantic from s Iceland and c Norway to n Spain, Canary Is. (c Macaronesia, w of nw Africa), w Africa, and w, nc Mediterranean Sea