The Ashy Storm-petrel is a smoky gray seabird – roughly the size of a swallow – that spends most of its life out over the ocean. It can only be found on the islands off California and in the adjacent waters. And it’s in big trouble. (photo by Glen Tepke)

Because of severe population declines in recent years, as well as numerous threats to breeding and foraging habitat, Audubon put the Ashy Storm-petrel on its Watchlist some time ago. It is also considered a California Species of Special Concern. Although it is one of only two seabirds considered “highly imperiled” in the northeast Pacific by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, an effort to have the bird placed on the Endangered Species List fell short in 2009. That decision prompted many conservationists to worry that we may see the last of this species in our lifetimes.

In no small part because the Ashy Storm-petrel lives almost entirely off California shores, we have a responsibility to provide for its conservation as best we can. The bird’s total world population may be as low as 7,500 individuals.

Ninety-eight percent of the worldwide population of Ashy Storm-petrels lives off two California island groups, the Channel Islands in Southern California, and the Farallone Islands, just off San Francisco. The bird nests in crevices in the rocks, and stays in these nests when it’s dark to avoid predators.

The largest of the two California breeding populations is on the Farallones, but counts indicate that the numbers here may be dropping rapidly due to predation on eggs and chicks by mice, and on adults and juveniles by a new Burrowing Owl population. The mice are not native to the island, and the Burrowing Owls are only drawn there because of the mice. When the mice run out, they turn to the Ashy Storm-petrels.