Wilson's storm petrel

Wilson's storm petrel
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Oceanitidae
Genus: Oceanites
Species:
O. oceanicus
Binomial name
Oceanites oceanicus
(Kuhl, 1820)
Distribution range (blue)

Wilson's storm petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly in the seas of the southern hemisphere but extending northwards during the summer of the northern hemisphere. The world population was estimated in 2022 as stable at 8 to 20 million birds.[2] In 2010 it had been estimated at 12-30 million.[3] A 1998 book had estimated more than 50 million pairs.[4] The name commemorates the Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson. The genus name Oceanites refers to the mythical Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of Tethys. The species name is from Latin oceanus, "ocean".[5]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Oceanites oceanicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22698436A132646007. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698436A132646007.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Wilson's Storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) - BirdLife species factsheet". datazone.birdlife.org. 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
  3. ^ "Oceanites oceanicus — Wilson's Storm-Petrel". Australian Government. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  4. ^ Newton, Ian (1998). Population limitation in birds. Academic Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780080879239.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 279. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.