Oceanodroma leucorhoa

Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone, European waters (ERMS scope), Gulf of Maine, Gulf of Mexico, Irish Exclusive economic Zone, Mediterranean Sea, New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone, North West Atlantic, Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone, South Africa (country), Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone, United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone, Wimereux

North America; range extends from Labrador to the Gulf of Maine

circum-global

Leach's Storm Petrel has an extensive global range. Breeding colonies are confined to the northern hemisphere, from the South Kuril Islands (Japan) round to Baja California (Mexico) including the Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA) and Canada in the Pacific, and in the north-east North America, Iceland, northern United Kingdom and Norway in the Atlantic. Northern populations migration south into the tropics in winter, reaching the equator in the Pacific and as far south as south Brazil and South Africa in the Atlantic¹.

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Breeding

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) Breeding range in the northwestern Pacific Ocean extends from the Commander Islands south to the Kuril Islands and Hokkaido, Japan (AOU 1998). Breeding range in the eastern Pacific Ocean includes southern Alaska (including the Aleutian Islands), British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, and Baja California (Los Coronados, San Benito, and Guadalupe Islands, and Alijos Rocks). Breeding range in the western Atlantic Ocean extends from southern Labrador to Maine (Casco Bay) and Massachusetts (Penikese Islands). Breeding range in the eastern Atlantic Ocean includes Iceland, Faeroe Islands, Norway, Scotland, and Ireland (AOU 1998).

Southern Hemisphere: Potential for colonizing Southern Hemisphere: New Zealand and South Africa. Whittington et al. (2001) reported the first confirmed breeding (20 pairs) on Dyer Island off the coast of South Africa (AOU 1998).

This storm-petrel ranges at sea in the Pacific Ocean from the breeding areas south to the Hawaiian, Revillagigedo, and Galapagos lands, and in the western Pacific to Indonesia and New Guinea; and in the Atlantic Ocean south along both coasts to Florida, the West Indies, Caribbean Sea, Brazil, and South Africa, rarely but regularly also to the west coast of Greenland (AOU 1998).

Casual occurrences extend to the west coast of Greenland and eastern Atlantic islands, Mediterranean Sea, and western Europe (Huntington et al. 1996, AOU 1998).

Length: 20 cm

Weight: 40 grams

Palearctic migrant

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Terrestrial
• Marine

Depth range based on 14749 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 13879 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 0
  Temperature range (°C): 0.625 - 28.632
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.026 - 10.275
  Salinity (PPS): 29.776 - 36.728
  Oxygen (ml/l): 4.509 - 8.121
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.033 - 0.822
  Silicate (umol/l): 0.565 - 16.169

Graphical representation

Temperature range (°C): 0.625 - 28.632

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.026 - 10.275

Salinity (PPS): 29.776 - 36.728

Oxygen (ml/l): 4.509 - 8.121

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.033 - 0.822

Silicate (umol/l): 0.565 - 16.169
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Comments: Pelagic. Winters on open sea, comes ashore only to breed. Nests on islands in burrow dug by male; sometimes in rock crevice; may nest in open or under vegetation. Disturbance of nest sites, even during nonbreeding season, may break up mated pair and lower reproductive success (Morse and Kress 1984). Usually nests in same burrow in successive years.

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Arrives on breeding grounds in Maine in April-May (Cowger 1976). Present in tropical latitudes November-March (Pratt et al. 1987). Mainly May-August off Costa Rica (evidently nonbreeders, Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Comments: Surface feeder. Feeds on fishes, crustaceans, and small squids. In northwest Atlantic, diet mainly myctophids and amphipods, also euphausiids and other crustaceans (Montevecchi et al. 1992).

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 81 to >300

Comments: This species is represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations).

>1,000,000 individuals

Comments: This is the most widespread tubenose bird breeding in the Northern Hemisphere (Huntington et al. 1996), and it is the most abundant seabird breeding in the northwest Atlantic (Montevecchi et al. 1992).

Conservative global population estimate is between 10 and 15 million (Boersma and Groom 1993). The largest colony is on Baccalieu Island, off Newfoundland, with an estimated 3.36 million breeding pairs (Sklepkovych and Montevecchi 1989). More than 1.1 million occur at over 40 sites in British Columbia, Canada (Rodway 1991). About 100,000 pairs occur on Saint-Pierre and Miquelon archipelago (North Atlantic Ocean) (Desbrosse and Etcheberry 1990).

In the contiguous United States, the overall breeding population is about 450,000; most breeders occur in Oregon (350,000). In 1977, the Maine breeding population was estimated at 19,000 birds (Buckley and Buckley 1984). Total estimated population in Alaska is 3.5 million breeding pairs (Boersma and Groom 1993).

Approximately 500,000 were in Hokkaido, Japan, during the 1980s (Watanuki et al. 1988).

Occurs singly or in small loose groups in Pacific off Costa Rica (Stiles and Skutch 1989). A banded bird was captured in its nest burrow when 24 years old (Terres 1980). Recorded as prey of short-eared owl in Massachusetts (Holt 1987).

Vagrant

Comments: Most active at breeding colonies at night. Feeds offshore by day and possibly at night as well (Cowger 1976).

Maximum longevity: 36 years (wild) Observations: Oldest banded bird was at least 36 years-old (http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/).

One egg is incubated by both adults (in turn every 4-6 days) for 41-42 days. Chick is deserted by parents in about 40 days, leaves for sea in 63-70 days (Harrison 1978). Most do not begin breeding until 5th summer (Cowger 1976). Socially and genetically monogamous (Mauck et al. 1995).

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 6 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 6
Specimens with Barcodes: 10
Species With Barcodes: 1

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Justification

History

• 2008
  Least Concern
• 2004
  Least Concern

Accidental visitor.

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N4N,N5B : N4N: Apparently Secure - Nonbreeding, N5B: Secure - Breeding

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5B - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: Large nesting range; abundant; populations appear to be increasing.

Population

Global Short Term Trend: Increase of 10 to >25%

Comments: Hyslop and Kennedy (1992) recorded an increase in the Gulf of St. Lawrence regon, and Chapdelaine and Brousseau (1992) noted increases around the Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec, 1979-1989. Populations increased significantly during 1987-1994 in California Current system (Veit et al. 1996). See Spendelow and Patton (1988) and Buckley and Buckley (1984) for further details.

This species may be expanding its breeding range within southern hemisphere (Whittington et al. 2001).

Degree of Threat: D : Unthreatened throughout its range, communities may be threatened in minor portions of the range or degree of variation falls within natural variation

Comments: Predation: Introduction (accidental or intentional) of predatory mammals to islands is the most significant threat. Storm-petrels have suffered from introductions of domestic cats and dogs, rats, mongoose, and other ground predators on many offshore nesting islands (Brown and Nettleship 1984). Even mice can kill adult storm-petrels (Sibley 2001). Introduced foxes and rats exterminated colonies on some islands in Alaska (Lensink 1984). Cattle, sheep, and horses trample burrows and erode hillsides. Known native predators include short-eared owl (Holt 1987) and slaty-backed gull (Watanuki 1986). Increasing presence of predatory gulls and some raptors near landfills and dumps in the last century has probably impacted storm-petrel populations (Sibley 2001).

Pesticides: Pesticides and contaminants such as DDE and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were present in tissue samples collected in eastern Canada from 1968 to 1984 (Pearce et al. 1989). Long-term data from this study, however, showed decreasing levels of contaminants in seabird tissue samples.

Pollution: Plastics are commonly ingested by storm-petrels but may be expelled when the birds regurgitate (Boersma 1981). Ingested plastic particles may impede digestion (Blight and Burger 1997). Reproductive success may be reduced by exposure to crude oil or oil emulsion (Butler et al. 1988).

Disturbance at colonies: Leach's storm-petrels may be disturbed by picnickers, researchers, and aircraft bombing/testing (Buckley and Buckley 1984), as well as fires, livestock grazing, and introduced predators.

Climate change: Shifts in oceanic circulation patterns that alter seabird food supplies and distribution have been tied to climatic changes; a recent example of this impact may be the 90% reduction of sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) in the eastern North Pacific over the last 20 years (Sibley 2001).

Management Requirements: See Podolsky and Kress (1989) for information on attracting birds to nesting areas by using recordings of storm-petrel vocalizations.

Biological Research Needs: Information is needed on survival, food habits, habitat use, and site fidelity in winter range. Research is needed to determine genetic differences between populations, and differences between central and peripheral colonies in reproductive success (Huntington et al.1996).

Global Protection: Many to very many (13 to >40) occurrences appropriately protected and managed

Comments: Under treaties with Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia, seabirds of the United States are protected from exploitation (Lensink 1984). Some nesting areas are protected by U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System. Significant Newfoundland colonies (Baccalieu Island and Witless Bay Islands) are legally protected (Huntington et al. 1996).

Least Concern