Tristram’s Storm Petril
Oceanodroma tristrami
| Stated-recognized | Indigenous |
| NatureServe Heritage Rank | Vulnerable |
| North American Waterbird Conservation Plan |
High Concern |
| Regional Seabird Conservation Plan |
USFWS 2005 |
Tristram’s storm-petrel is a large storm-petrel (Family: Hydrobatidae) with long, pointed wings, and a notched tail. Adult males and females are entirely brownish-gray. Flight pattern is typical of storm-petrels–gliding low over water searching for food.
Typically forages at night, alone or with conspecifics. Their Hawaiian name, ʻĀkihikēʻehiʻale, translates to “The bird pattering on water” and highlights a unique foraging behavior where it is dipping prey from the ocean’s surface on the wing, often pattering the water with it’s feet.
In Hawai‘i, diet includes fish, squid, coelenterates, crustaceans, and insects. Tristram’s storm-petrels are winter breeders, and are nocturnal at nesting colonies. Nests are placed in recesses in rocks, under piles of mined guano, or burrows that they excavate under vegetation. Eggs are laid between December through February and nestlings fledge by June. Little information on parental care of egg or young. Like most storm petrels, age at first breeding is likely three to five years and individuals likely live between 15 and 20 years.
DISTRIBUTION: Tristram’s storm-petrels breed on all NWHI, although they historically bred on MHI as well. Outside of Hawai‘i, breeding colonies only occur on three small Japanese islands. Outside the breeding season, Tristram’s storm-petrels range across the subtropical central and western Pacific Ocean.
LOCATION AND CONDITION OF KEY HABITAT: On Kure, once extirpated by rats, they are a recovering species. Due to difficulties in monitoring burrows, there is an assessment of distribution but no current baseline assessment of abundance.
The following management goals are important to Pacific seabird conservation: maintain, protect, and enhance habitat; eradicate or control non-natives; minimize bycatch and other negative effects of fishing; improve the effectiveness of oil spill response efforts; identify contaminates and hazardous substances; and minimize the effects of powerlines, towers, wind turbines and lights (USFWS 2005). The goal of these management actions is not only to protect seabird populations and their breeding colonies, but also to re- establish former breeding colonies thereby reducing the risk of extinction.
‘Akihike‘ehi‘ale Name Press Release
The name for the Tristram’s storm-petrel is ‘akihikeʻehiʻale, which translates to “the bird that steps on water.” This is an old name found in the writings of Hawaiian historian Kepelino and other Hawaiian language newspaper sources from the 1800s.
What’s in a Name?
A webinar related to the research of the Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group tasked with giving Hawaiian names to numerous other bird, plant, limu, and coral species unique to PMNM
