ETYM French pétrel; a dim. of the name Peter, Latin Petrus, Greek peter a stone; -- probably so called in allusion to St. Peter's walking on the sea. Related to Petrify.
Relatively small long-winged tube-nosed bird that flies far from land.
Small dark seabird. stormy or storm petrel, such bird of the Atlantic and Mediterranean; person fond of, or whose presence heralds, strife.
Any of various families of seabirds, including the worldwide storm petrels (family Procellariidae), which include the smallest seabirds (some only 13 cm/5 in long), and the diving petrels (family Pelecanoididae) of the southern hemisphere, which feed by diving underwater and are characterized by having nostril tubes. They include fulmars and shearwaters.
Most familiar is Wilson’s storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus, which breeds in the southern hemisphere and migrates to the N Atlantic in winter. Seldom coming to land except to breed, Wilson’s storm petrels lay a single egg in holes among the rocks. They are 18 cm/7 in long and sooty black with a white rump band.
Like other ground-nesting or burrow-nesting seabirds, petrels are vulnerable to predators such as rats that take eggs and nestlings. Several island species are in danger of extinction, including the Bermuda petrel Pterodroma cahow and the Freira petrel of Madeira p. madeira.