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How do Wilson’s petrels use prevailing winds during their Atlantic migration?

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A herd of wildebeest, including calves, moves across a dusty savanna in Africa with scattered trees visible in the background. — Migration A herd of common wildebeest (*Connochaetes taurinus*) migrating across a dusty savanna in Africa. The animal is a keystone species (i.e., a species with a disproportionately large effect on its biological community) in plains and acacia savanna ecosystems from southeastern Africa to central Kenya.

Wilson’s petrels (Oceanites oceanicus) undertake a massive migratory journey in a great loop across the Atlantic Ocean, traveling between their Antarctic breeding grounds and the North Atlantic. Their flight pattern is directly correlated with the direction of prevailing winds, which they utilize to facilitate their movement across these vast distances.1

This behavior is consistent with other pelagic seabirds, such as albatrosses, which are known to drift with prevailing winds during their long-distance migrations. By aligning their travel with these meteorological conditions, Wilson’s petrels effectively navigate their expansive range, moving rapidly northward along the coasts of the Americas in the spring and returning toward the Antarctic via the coasts of Europe and Africa in the autumn.1