Black storm petrel

Oceanodroma melania is a storm-petrel of the family Hydrobatidae, described by Bonaparte in 1854 ^[1]; a recent study calls it Hydrobates melania ^[2]. Its breeding has been studied on the San Benito Islands, in Mexico ^[2], and in Peru its presence has been reported down to at least 8° S ^[3].

The author of an IMARPE study notes that this species physically resembles Oceanodroma markhami and that the two are not easy to tell apart, so some individuals recorded in northern Peru may have been confused with that species ^[3].

Similar species

• Oceanodroma markhami: The two are confused at sea; the source gives no field mark that separates them ^[3].

Its breeding was studied on the San Benito Islands, in Mexico, during 2012 and 2013 ^[2]. In Peru, an IMARPE study, citing Blake (1977), states that it ranges from Panama to at least 8° S ^[3].

On the San Benito Islands, during breeding, this species consumed higher-trophic-level prey from neritic waters, unlike Hydrobates leucorhous and Hydrobates microsoma, which fed on lower-trophic-level prey from oceanic waters ^[2]. Its adults consumed different prey, from different areas, than their offspring did ^[2]. Outside breeding, niche segregation among the three species persisted ^[2].

The Peruvian literature consulted only indicates that it reaches at least 8° S and warns that it closely resembles Oceanodroma markhami, so identification at sea is uncertain ^[3].