Hornby's Storm Petrel

Hornby's Storm Petrel
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Procellariiformes
Family:	Hydrobatidae
Subfamily:	Hydrobatinae
Genus:	Oceanodroma
Species:	O. hornbyi
Binomial name
Oceanodroma hornbyi (Gray, 1854)

The Hornby's Storm Petrel or Ringed Storm-petrel (Oceanodroma hornbyi) is a seabird that ranges in the Humboldt Current off the coasts of South America. The species is a very distinctive member of the storm-petrel family, with a dark cap, white face and underparts, forked tail and a black band across the chest. It is relatively common in the seas off Peru, Chile and Ecuador. The species is named after Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby.

Breeding

The breeding biology of the Hornby's Storm Petrel is a mystery, as its colonies and nests have never been found. It is thought to breed between March and July, as this is when fledglings are regularly seen at sea around Lima (in Peru) and Antofagasta (in Chile). There have also been reports of mummified fledglings and adults found in crevices in the Atacama Desert 50 km from the sea, and even reports of one fledgling being seen 150 km from the sea, and one unproven report of a bird flying into a nest in the town of Caraz in Peru, 100 km from the sea.

Illustration by Joseph Smit, 1896

Status and conservation

It is difficult to know how threatened, if at all, the Hornby's Storm Petrel is. At sea estimates put the population in the thousands or tens of thousands. Recently a vagrant Hornby's was seen off the coast of California by a team from NOAA.

At sea, showing the distinctive black band and cap

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Oceanodroma hornbyi. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as data deficient
• Brooke, M. (2004). Albatrosses And Petrels Across The World: Procellariidae. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK ISBN 0-19-850125-0