Ashy Storm Petrel

The ashy storm petrel (Hydrobates homochroa) is a small, scarce seabird of the storm petrel family Hydrobatidae. It breeds colonially on islands off the coasts of California and Mexico, and is one of six species of storm petrel that live and feed in the rich California Current system. == Taxonomy == The ashy storm petrel was first described by American ornithologist Elliott Coues in 1864. Both its common and scientific name, homochroa, "uniformly colored", from Ancient Greek (h)omoia (όμοια), "alike" + "chroma" (χρώμα) "color", come from its coloration. It was formerly defined in the genus Oceanodroma before that genus was synonymized with Hydrobates. == Description and ecology == This is a small, uniformly sooty-brown storm petrel with a forked tail, closely resembling the black storm petrel, but it is smaller and has a more fluttering style of flight, with the upstroke only becoming horizontal to the body before beginning the downstroke (other storm petrels in its range have a higher upstroke). It is a gregarious bird at sea, feeding nocturnally on cephalopods, fish (particularly the deep-sea myctophids, which rise to the sea's surface at night) and euphausiid krill such as Thysanoessa spinifera, which also swarm at the surface. They also…