CreatureData

Snow petrel

Pagodroma nivea (G. Forster, 1777)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) is a species in the family Procellariidae, order Procellariiformes. Recorded adults weigh 268 g to 341 g and live up to 20 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea)
Photo: This illustration was made by Samuel Blanc · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the snow petrel

Weight
268 g – 341 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
75 cm – 95 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
20 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
45 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
10.8 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
0.76src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the snow petrel?

SNOW PETREL · WINGSPAN 95 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 95 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the snow petrel is about 56% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the snow petrel live?

Not recorded

What is the snow petrel?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) is the only member of the genus Pagodroma. It is one of only three birds that have been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, and it has the most southerly breeding sites of any bird, inland in Antarctica.

From the Wikipedia article “Snow petrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snow_petrel&oldid=1361340769), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the snow petrel endangered?

The snow petrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the snow petrel classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderProcellariiformes
  5. familyProcellariidae
  6. genusPagodroma
  7. SpeciesPagodroma nivea (G. Forster, 1777)

Synonyms Pagodroma nivea alba, Pagodroma nivea falklandica, Pagodroma nivea falklandica, Pagodroma nivea novegeorgica, Pagodroma nivea pealei, Procellaria nivea

Other names and names in other languages (38)
  • Lesser snow petrelEnglish
  • WitstormvoëlAfrikaans
  • نوء الثلجArabic
  • petrell de les neusCatalan
  • buřňák sněžníCzech
  • pedryn yr eiraWelsh
  • SnepetrelDanish
  • SchneesturmvogelGerman
  • Kleiner SeesturmvogelGerman
  • neĝa petreloEsperanto
  • Petrel níveoSpanish
  • Petrel blancoSpanish
  • Petrel de las nievesSpanish
  • lumi-tormilindEstonian
  • lumimyrskyliitäjäFinnish
  • Fulmar des neigesFrench
  • Pétrel des neigesFrench
  • bijeli zovojCroatian
  • hóhojszaHungarian
  • Petrel saljuIndonesian
  • Petrello delle neviItalian
  • ユキドリJapanese
  • snieginis audrašauklisLithuanian
  • sneeuwstormvogelDutch
  • snøpetrellNorwegian
  • petrel śnieżnyPolish
  • petrel-nivalPortuguese
  • grazina-nivalPortuguese
  • pardela-das-nevesPortuguese
  • Petrel-das-nevesPortuguese
  • Снежный буревестникRussian
  • fulmarčík snežnýSlovak
  • Snežna burnicaSerbian
  • ispetrellSwedish
  • Ak FırtınakuşuTurkish
  • буревісник білийUkrainian
  • 雪鸌Chinese
  • 雪鹱Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the snow petrel

Other species in the same family Procellariidae.

CompareSnow petrel vs Northern fulmarSnow petrel vs Manx shearwaterSnow petrel vs Scopoli's shearwaterSnow petrel vs Sooty shearwater

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the snow petrel?

An adult snow petrel weighs 268 g – 341 g and has a wingspan of 75 cm – 95 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the snow petrel endangered?

The snow petrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the snow petrel live?

The snow petrel has a recorded lifespan of 20 years.

What kind of animal is the snow petrel?

The snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) belongs to the family Procellariidae in the order Procellariiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/snow-petrel

MLA

“Snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/snow-petrel.

BibTeX
@misc{snow_petrel_2026,
  title = {Snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/snow-petrel},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}