Bulweria bulwerii
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Bulwer's petrel (Bulweria bulwerii) is a small petrel in the family Procellariidae that is found in tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is named after the English naturalist James Bulwer.
Bulwer's petrel was formally described in 1828 by the naturalists Jardine and Selby who coined the binomial name Procellaria bulwerii. The specific epithet was chosen to acknowledge the artist and naturalist James Bulwer who had collected the type specimen on the island of Madeira. Bulwer's petrel is now placed in the genus Bulweria that was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
This very long-winged petrel is 25–29 cm (9.8–11.4 in) in length with a 78–90 cm (31–35 in) wingspan. It has mainly brown plumage and a long pointed tail. It has a buoyant twisting flight as it picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface.
The species has a wide distribution through tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, it is a year-round resident in Cabo Verde, China, French Guiana, Indonesia... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Komodo National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Bulwer's Petrel sighting in Raja Ampat on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 143rd most-seen of the 200 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bulwer's Petrel in Raja Ampat on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bulwer's Petrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Bulwer's Petrel sightings, Raja Ampat ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Komodo National Park (Indonesia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bulwer's Petrel is recorded against all the birds logged in Raja Ampat (41 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.
