A very small seabird of southern oceans.
Not listed
Indigenous: Mother Carey's Chicken
At a glance
FamilySouthern Storm-Petrels
SizeSmall
RarityUncommon
HabitatPelagic; mostly offshore and over open ocean, occasionally seen from coastal headlands during passage.
Best timeMost reliable in Victoria from March to June.
Range map
Range map
91visible hotspots
1157visible records
0states
Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Gray-black on head, neck, throat, and top of breast. Back and upperwing are paler in color and rump is ash-gray. Note the white belly and white underwing with a black edge. Shows relatively short black legs and square tail. Differs from other black-and-white storm-petrels by its gray rather than white rump. White-faced Storm-Petrel also has a gray rump but is larger with longer legs, white on the face, and a more bounding flight.
Gallery
Regional timing
Victoria
Tasmania
South Australia
New South Wales