A relatively long-winged petrel, rare off the mid-Atlantic coast. Adult is sooty-gray overall with pale under-primaries and coverts on otherwise dark underwings, uniformly brown upperwings, and short black bill. Light-morph adults, rarely recorded in North America, have whitish underparts, throat, and flanks. Similar Sooty Shearwater has straighter wings, shorter tail, and lighter underwings. Also compare jaegers.

Length: 39 (cm) Wingspan: 95 (cm)

Habitat:

Open ocean, rarely seen from shore.

Behavior:

In flight, holds wings more angled than shearwaters, banks higher and more erratically than jaegers. Nests in cliff crevices.

Feeding:

Picks food from ocean's surface. Eats a variety of small aquatic organisms.