---
title: "Wilson's Storm-Petrel"
description: "Oceanites oceanicus — Birds. Wilson's storm petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/wilson-s-storm-petrel
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Wilson's Storm-Petrel

> Oceanites oceanicus — Birds. Wilson's storm petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae.

- Scientific name: *Oceanites oceanicus*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 4192
- Wikidata: [Q607024](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q607024)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4146](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4146)

## Names

- en: Wilson's Storm-Petrel
- de: Buntfußsturmschwalbe
- es: Paíño de Wilson
- fr: Océanite de Wilson
- nl: Wilsons stormvogeltje
- pt: Painho-de-wilson
- pl: Oceannik żółtopłetwy

## Countries with the most observations

US (527), IN (111), CA (65), CL (52), AU (51), GS (28), ZA (27), PT (19), AR (14), BR (14), FR (13), NZ (10)

## Summary

Wilson's storm petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly in the seas of the southern hemisphere but extending northwards during the summer of the northern hemisphere. The world population was estimated in 2022 as stable at 8–20 million birds. In 2010 it had been estimated at 12–30 million. A 1998 book had estimated more than 50 million pairs. The name commemorates the Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson. The genus name…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson%27s_storm_petrel

## Photo

![Wilson's Storm-Petrel](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/wilson-s-storm-petrel/medium.jpg)

Photo: steve b · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/150847934

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/wilson-s-storm-petrel?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).