Storm Petrel
Hydrobates pelagicus
[Linnaeus, 1758]
Hydrobates pelagicus
[Linnaeus, 1758]
"Mother Carey's chicken"* or the "storm petrel"** belongs to the Hydrobatidae family of birds. For us Brits, this family is basically limited to the Leach's storm petrel and the storm petrel itself, although worldwide there are around sixteen members of the Hydrobatidae.
All these petrels live a pretty pelagic (upper layers of the open ocean) life - and seem to dance on the water surface, when the waves are flat and the sea is calm.
**This walking on the water or pattering of their feet on the waves in fact gave rise to their "petrel" name which is thought to stem from St.Peter (who Jesus asked to walk on the Sea of Galilee (if you believe all that stuff)). "Storm" petrel as sailors often saw the petrels in calm conditons, just before a storm (therefore they were storm harbingers).
* In fact, there is more religious jiggery-pokery going on in the traditional folk name for the storm petrel - Mother Carey is basically a corruption of Mater Cara, one of the epithets of the virgin Mary, used by Spanish and Portugese sailors (the first real western sailors in the southern seas).
Mother Carey can be thought of as a traditional female supernatural figure who personified the cruel and threatening sea in the minds-eye of 19th century English-speaking sailors.
Annyyyywaaaay..... where were we?
Ah yes, the Hydrobatidae.
Each of the sixteen Hydrobatidae family members has the generic (genus) name of: Oceanodroma -each apart from the storm petrel that is, which is the only member of the genus Hydrobates itself.
So what does Hydrobatidae and therefore Hydrobates mean then?
Hydro stems from hudro (Greek "water") and bates from baino (Greek "to step on").
As for pelagicus, well.... I've mentioned that already in this blog.
The (eventual) upshot of all this wittering is that the scientific name for the storm petrel literally means water-walker or:
All these petrels live a pretty pelagic (upper layers of the open ocean) life - and seem to dance on the water surface, when the waves are flat and the sea is calm.
**This walking on the water or pattering of their feet on the waves in fact gave rise to their "petrel" name which is thought to stem from St.Peter (who Jesus asked to walk on the Sea of Galilee (if you believe all that stuff)). "Storm" petrel as sailors often saw the petrels in calm conditons, just before a storm (therefore they were storm harbingers).
* In fact, there is more religious jiggery-pokery going on in the traditional folk name for the storm petrel - Mother Carey is basically a corruption of Mater Cara, one of the epithets of the virgin Mary, used by Spanish and Portugese sailors (the first real western sailors in the southern seas).
Mother Carey can be thought of as a traditional female supernatural figure who personified the cruel and threatening sea in the minds-eye of 19th century English-speaking sailors.
Annyyyywaaaay..... where were we?
Ah yes, the Hydrobatidae.
Each of the sixteen Hydrobatidae family members has the generic (genus) name of: Oceanodroma -each apart from the storm petrel that is, which is the only member of the genus Hydrobates itself.
So what does Hydrobatidae and therefore Hydrobates mean then?
Hydro stems from hudro (Greek "water") and bates from baino (Greek "to step on").
As for pelagicus, well.... I've mentioned that already in this blog.
The (eventual) upshot of all this wittering is that the scientific name for the storm petrel literally means water-walker or:
"treader on the open sea".
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