The storm petrel nests in crevices and burrows, sometimes shared with other seabirds or rabbits, and lays a single white egg, usually on bare soil.

It feeds on small fish, squid, and zooplankton, while pattering on the sea's surface, and can find oily, edible items by smell.

The storm petrel cannot survive on islands where land mammals such as rats and cats have been introduced, and it suffers natural predation from gulls, skuas, owls, and falcons.

Although the population may be declining slightly, this petrel is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of least concern due to its high total numbers.

[2] Although there is some genetic support for classifying the southern form as a separate species,[16] the morphology is not considered sufficiently different from that of the nominate subspecies to justify a split.

[19] It is square-tailed and has all-black plumage except for a snow-white rump that extends to the sides of the tail base and a broad white band on the under wings.

When feeding, the birds hang with raised wings and patter on the surface with their feet, but unlike Wilson's storm petrel, do not look as if they are walking on the water.

[28] The European storm petrel can be distinguished from related Western Palaearctic species by the white bar on its under wing and its distinctive fluttering flight.

[18] In its display flight, the storm petrel gives a call consisting of eight or more repetitions of a fast ter-CHICK sounds ending in a trill (rapid alternation of notes).

The details of the vocalisation vary geographically, including between the Atlantic and Mediterranean populations, and birds recognise calls from their own breeding area.

[18] A purring song arrr-r-r-r-r-r-r ... ending with a sharp chikka is given in the burrow only by the male;[19][29] it was described by Charles Oldham as "like a fairy being sick".

[18] Chicks give a whistling pee-pee-pee call when being fed, and a faster version of this vocalisation is used by adults and young to signal distress.

[25] The storm petrel has been recorded as a vagrant in several European countries as far east as Ukraine, in the Guinea region of West Africa, and in Turkey, Israel, Lebanon,[1] and the US.

[18][35] Some birds stay north of the equator in the seas adjoining Mauritania and Rio de Oro, and a few remain near the breeding islands, especially in the Mediterranean.

The return passage starts in April, with late records from the tropics and further south probably representing subadult birds that will not breed that year.

Where other occupants are present, the petrels dig a side burrow or use an existing low-roofed tunnel which the larger birds or rabbits cannot easily enter.

[18][52] In the Atlantic, more than half the food items are zooplankton and the fish caught include small herring and sprats; whale carcasses are scavenged where available.

[54] Small numbers of insects are caught near breeding colonies, and some plant material, including angiosperm seeds and sorrel, has been found in the stomach contents.

[55] Nasal glands remove excess salt from seawater consumed by the petrel as a concentrated solution excreted through the nostrils.

The attraction of the fishy odour is sometimes enhanced by the addition of dimethylsulphide (DMS) a chemical also naturally produced by some planktonic organisms, although there are doubts about the safety of this possible carcinogen.

[57] The American mink, a non-native species in Europe, is a strong swimmer, and can colonise islands up to 2 km (2,200 yd) from the mainland.

The yellow-legged gull is a particular problem in the Mediterranean, and great skuas were estimated to kill 7,500 petrels a year on St Kilda, an unsustainable number.

[19][50] Some great black-backed gulls on the Atlantic islands specialise in taking seabird chicks at night,[41] and peregrine falcons hunt adults at sea.

[41] Feather mites of at least two species have been found on the storm petrel, with Halipeurus pelagicus occurring at much higher densities than Philoceanus robertsi.

[60] Storm petrels seem to be largely free of blood parasites, even when in close proximity to carrier species such as the yellow-legged gull.

[63] The European population of the storm petrel has been estimated at 430,000–510,000 breeding pairs or 1,290,000–1,530,000 individual birds and makes up 95% of the world total numbers.

[66] Because it feeds in flight, the storm petrel is less affected by oil pollution than other seabirds, and may be able to use its good sense of smell to avoid slicks, although a large spill near a breeding colony could have serious consequences.

[67] A more prosaic explanation of their appearance in rough weather is that, like most oceanic seabirds, they rely on the winds to support them in flight and just sit on the water surface when becalmed.

[72] She appears as a fairy in Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies and is depicted in one of Jessie Willcox Smith's illustrations for the book.

[74] In the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the bursar of the Edinburgh Trader (played by Max Baker) makes a reference to Mother Carey's chickens, moments before the Kraken attacks the ship.