Wilson's Storm Petrel

seabird · ocean · southern hemisphere · traveler

Tiny ocean explorer. Wilson's storm petrels are small seabirds that spend most of their lives out at sea, only coming to land to nest. They are named after Alexander Wilson, a Scottish-American scientist who studied birds.

Follows the summers. These petrels live mainly in the Southern Hemisphere's seas but fly northward during summer in the Northern Hemisphere, following warm weather and food around the world. This means they experience summer twice each year.

Incredibly numerous. Wilson's storm petrels are among the most abundant birds on Earth, with an estimated 8 to 20 million alive today. Scientists believe there used to be even more, possibly over 50 million pairs.

Storm petrel family. Wilson's storm petrels belong to a special family of seabirds called Oceanitidae, which are built to survive in rough ocean conditions and can skim across waves while hunting for food.