Bird Guide

Grey-backed Storm Petrel vs White-faced Storm Petrel

Grey-backed Storm Petrel (Garrodia nereis)

Grey-backed Storm Petrel

Garrodia nereis

Small38 gMarine

Grey-backed storm petrel is a small bird, 21-44 g in weight with a 39–40 cm wingspan. Like others in its family it is dark grey overall with a black head and belly, but it can be distinguished from other storm-petrels in its range by its light grey rump compared to the white rump on others. The Grey-backed petrel has a pale back, black legs, a square tail and a white belly.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Justin Ponder · CC BY 4.0
White-faced Storm Petrel (Pelagodroma marina)

White-faced Storm Petrel

Pelagodroma marina

Small47 gMarine

Commonly, the white-faced storm petrel is 19 to 21 centimetres (7.5 to 8.3 in) in length with a 41 to 44 centimetres (16 to 17 in) wingspan and 40 to 70 grams body mass. The key characteristics of this species include dark bill, tarsi, toes and claws. It has a pale brown to grey back, rump and wings with black flight feathers. It is white below, unlike other north Atlantic petrels, and has a white face with a black eye mask like a phalarope. Its distinctive grey-brown dorsal side plumage makes it one of the easier petrels to identify at sea from a distance.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: iNaturalist user: paloma · CC0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Grey-backed Storm Petrel and White-faced Storm Petrel.