Description
Swinhoe's Storm Petrel is a small bird, 18–21 cm in length with a 45–48 cm wingspan, though distinctly larger than the European Storm Petrel. It is essentially dark brown in all plumages, and has a fluttering flight, pattering on the water surface as it picks planktonic food items from the ocean surface. Unlike the European Storm Petrel, it does not follow ships.
In structure it most resembles a Leach's Storm Petrel with its forked tail, longish wings, and flight behaviour, but does not have a white rump and the call differs. It is difficult to distinguish from other all-dark Oceanodroma species, and the first English record had to be DNA-tested to eliminate the possibility that it was a Leach's Storm Petrel, since populations of north-eastern Pacific Leach's Storm Petrels contain individuals that show completely dark rumps.
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