European Storm Petrel

Hydrobates pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

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