Oceanodroma markhami
Silhouette: Richard Crossley · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
Markham's storm petrel (Hydrobates markhami) is a seabird native to the Pacific Ocean around Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. The species is named after British explorer Albert Hastings Markham, who collected the specimen on which the scientific description was based. It is a large and slender storm petrel, with a wingspan between 49 and 54 cm (19 and 21 in). Its plumage is black to sooty brown with a grayish bar that runs diagonally across the upper side of the wings. A member of the family Hydrobatidae, the northern storm petrels, the species is similar to the black storm petrel (Hydrobates melania), from which it can be hard to distinguish.
A colonial breeder, this storm petrel nests in natural cavities in salt crusts in northern Chile and Peru; ninety-five percent of the known colonies are found in the Atacama Desert. The first colony was only reported in 1993, and it is expected that more colonies are yet to be discovered. Pairs produce one egg per season, which is laid on bare ground without any nesting material. Parents will attend their brood only at night, returning to the sea before dawn. The timing of the breeding season significantly varies both within and in between colonies, for unknown reasons. The diet of Markham's storm petrel consists of fish, cephalopods such as octopuses, and crustaceans; about ten percent of stomach contents is traceable to scavenging.
The species is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Despite their relatively large population, which was estimated at between 150,000 and 180,000 individuals in 2019, the species is in decline. Primary threats are habitat destruction due to mining of the salt crusts the birds rely on for breeding, and light pollution by mines and cities near the colonies. Light pollution can attract or disorient fledglings that make their first flight to the sea, and has been estimated to be responsible for the death of around 20,000 fledglings each year, which might amount to one third of all fledglings. Wikipedia →
Recording
© Daniela Castro · XCXC625706 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording
© Cristian Pinto · XCXC650693 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording
© Isidora Mura Jornet · XCXC704947 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Markham's Storm-Petrel sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 37 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 90th most-seen of the 114 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Markham's Storm-Petrel in Galápagos Islands on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Markham's Storm-Petrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Galápagos Islands, in our data
Galápagos Islands is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Markham's Storm-Petrel sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Oceanodroma
The closest relatives of the Markham's Storm-Petrel that you can see in Galápagos Islands (genus Oceanodroma) are Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel (about 20%) and Band-rumped Storm-Petrel (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Markham's Storm-Petrel is recorded against all the birds logged in Galápagos Islands (37 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
