Birds of Ireland: Storm petrel

Storm Petrel

Storm petrels are about 16 centimetres long with a wingspan of 38-40centimetres. They are a common breeding species found at sea here.

A storm petrel is the smallest European seabird — it is about the size of a swallow. They are rarely seen close to shore or resting on water. Both sexes appear similar. 

At a distance, an adult storm petrel has all-dark upperparts and a white rump patch. 

They have long wings with a distinct white bar on the underwing; they have a square-ended dark tail — the white on their rump extends onto the side of the undertail.

Storm Petrel (European Storm Petrel)

In their first autumn, some storm petrels have a thin, short, pale stripe on their upperwing. In flight a storm petrel flutters puppet-like with legs pattering and running on the surface when hunting. They have an erratic flight.

[The 'Petrel' part of the name was first recorded in 1602, and is a corruption of pitteral, referring to the bird's pitter-pattering across the water. The suggestion that the word refers to St Peter's walking on the waves is a later invention. The 'Storm' part comes from seamen's association of this bird with bad weather.]

Tip of the Week

When buying your binoculars, look for a combination of two numbers near the eyepieces on binoculars, eg 10X42. These will tell you most of the information you need before making a purchase. The first number refers to the magnification of the image made by the binoculars, ie 10X means 10 times the actual size of the image. 

The second number refers to the diameter in millimetres of the lenses furthest from your eyes when looking through them, which are called objective lenses. 

The bigger this number, the more light gets through to your eyes, and so the brighter the image. For general use 7X0, 8X30 or 8X40 binoculars are ideal... fairly powerful but light and compact.

• Featured in Birds of Ireland: A field guide by Jim Wilson with photographs by Mark Carmody

Jim Wilson is a wildlife writer, broadcaster, tour leader, and former chairman of BirdWatch Ireland. He has been involved in the study and conservation of birds in Ireland for more than 45 years, contributing to several major surveys and international projects.

Mark Carmody is an award-winning wildlife photographer, has a PhD in biochemistry and works as a European patent attorney.