Diagnoza

Smallest storm petrel in Europe (length 14–18 cm; wingspan 36–41 cm  and body mass 16–37g); with dark brown plumage, white rump and not bifurcated tail; wide white stripe on the underside of the wings and wide white patch on the rump extends far to the sides; two subspecies: H. p. pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758) and H. p. melitensis (Schembri, 1843) that differs from nominate one in its larger size with proportionally smaller tail, heavier bill, more uniformly dark plumage and having fainter tips to greater coverts

Porównanie

Most similar to the Wilson’s storm petrel Oceanites ocanicus, but smaller, with narrows wings, less pronounced cover strip on top of the wings, and shorter, not protruding beyond the tail legs with black digit and webs; mistaken with Leach's storm petrel Hydrobates leucorrhous and band-rumped storm petrel Hydrobates castro but has no forked tail.

Autekologia

Pelagic, usually keeping well away from land, except breeding sites; colony on rocky ground on offshore islands and stacks, occasionally on promontories; diet consists of small fish squid, crustaceans, ichthyoplankton, microzooplankton, isopods, medusae and offal; feeding during day over outer edge of continental shelf in waters c. 500 m deep.

Występowanie geograficzne

NE Atlantic, from south Iceland, Norway and Barents Sea via Faeroe Islands, British Isles, north-west France, north Spain and Canary Is (Lanzarote, Tenerife and El Hierro) to Mediterranean (from east Spain to Croati and Greece;  probably breeding in Turkey, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia; at sea mostly found between 10ºC and 25ºC; transequatorial migrant, moving to 38º S, mainly between Sept and Nov and wintering mainly off South Africa and Namibia (exceptionally waters off Mozambique in Indian Ocean and N to Spanish Sahara and Mauritania); in Poland 8 records of 15 individuals between 1821-2018 (K.F.S.O.P.T. Z., 2019); 2 records inland (Wrocław and Czarny Dunajec, Stawarczyk et al. 2017).

Zasięg czasowy

Pleistocene - Recent; Pleistocene remains known from Balearic Islands (Cova den Jaume Orat) and Grotta Pietro Tampoia, Italy (Tyrberg, 1999).

Materiały muzealne

Recent specimens in many collections, fossils only from 2 collections (Spain and Italy); in Poland 3 recent specimens (skins & bones) housed in ISEZ, Cracov (A/MP/695-698/08).

Literatura

Brooke, M. 2004. Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Komisja Faunistyczna Sekcji Ornitologicznej Polskiego Towarzystwa Zoologicznego. 2019. Raport nr 35. Rzadkie ptaki obserwowane w Polsce w roku 2018. Ornis Polonica 60: 125–160.

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii.

Onley, D. and Scofield, P. 2007. Albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters of the world. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

Stawarczyk, T., Cofta, T., Kajzer Z., Lontkowski, J. and Sikora, A. 2017. Rzadkie ptaki Polski. Studio B&W Wojciech Janecki. Sosnowiec. Pp 1-512.

Tyrberg, T. 1999. Seabirds and late Pleistocene marine environments in the northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 89: 139–157.