Hi Tweets,

Gene Hunn implores <g>:

>Help! Anybody out there have the answer to this one?

(snip)
>We list the Wilson's storm petrel as the most abundant. Does anyone
>>>have a good reference? >>>

Chris Leahy in his book, The Birdwatcher's Companion, Hill & Wang 1982
writes in the section on 'Abundance' (pp 16-18):

"The Red-billed Dioch, or Quelea, a tiny African waxbill finch (family
Estrildidae), is arguably the most abundant bird species in the world. It
occurs in locust-like plagues in the dry savannas south of the Sahara, where
it wreaks havoc on grain crops. Single invasions of a particular region have
been estimated to be 100 million birds strong and the total population is
currently estimated at about 10 billion.
"The Wilson's Storm-Petrel is another candidate for the most numerous
bird in the world, not according to any census but in view of its enormous
colonies, large (antarctic-subantarctic) breeding distribution, and wide
oceanic range, over which it is (seasonally) abundant."

This was written well after Murphy (1936) and Palmer (1962) wrote 'Oceanic
Birds of South America' and Handbook of North American Birds' respectively,
the usual two references given as sources for the Wilson's Storm-Petrel
estimate, so is more current, such as it is.

Michael Price We aren't flying...we're falling with style!
Vancouver BC Canada -Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
mprice at mindlink.net