Grey-backed Storm Petrel

Garrodia nereis (Gould, 1841)

Grey-backed Storm Petrel, Garrodia nereis, breeds on subantarctic islands in the Southern Ocean, including the Falklands, South Georgia, Gough, Crozet, Kerguelen, Macquarie, the Chatham, Antipodes and Auckland Islands. Outside the breeding season it ranges to the southern Tasman Sea and the Antarctic Convergence. It is a seabird in the austral storm petrel family, and among storm-petrels in its range it can be told by its light grey rump rather than the white rump shown by others. It is also drawn to bright lights, especially when visibility is poor.

Order

Procellariiformes

Family

Oceanitidae — Austral Storm Petrels

Breeding range

Southern Ocean: subantarctic islands: Falkland, South Georgia and Gough (s Atlantic Ocean), Crozet and Kerguelen (sw, se Indian Ocean), Macquarie (few; far se of Australia), Chatham, Antipodes and Auckland (e, se, and s of South I., New Zealand)

Nonbreeding range

to s Tasman Sea and Antarctic Convergence