Behavior

At sea, occurs singly or in small groups. The behavior on the breeding grounds is mostly undescribed.

Flight

The flight of Markham's Storm-Petrel has been described as fairly low, with buoyant wingbeats and glides and with the wings held slightly arched (3 Howell, S. N. G. (2012) Petrels, albatrosses, and storm-petrels of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Close ). Foraging birds can switch to floppy, loose, and fairly deep wingbeats, interspersed with short glides and abrupt swoops up over food (3 Howell, S. N. G. (2012) Petrels, albatrosses, and storm-petrels of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Close ). Forages "into the wind with steady wingbeats, occasional pauses, and short glides, swooping up to drop on food and patter briefly, the wings raised in a V" (3 Howell, S. N. G. (2012) Petrels, albatrosses, and storm-petrels of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Close ).

Preening, Head-Scratching, Stretching, Sunbathing, Bathing, Anting

No information.

Sleeping, Roosting

No information.

Daily Time Budget

While breeding, birds typically return to the colony between midnight and 05:00 AM (34 Carevic, F., Sielfeld, W., Alarcón, E. and A. del Campo (2023). Discovery of a new colony and nest attendance patterns of two Hydrobates storm-petrels in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 135: 1-7. Close ). Individuals spend more time feeding/resting than in transit during the day, which is particularly marked in the Costa Rica Current (35 Spear, L. B., and D. G. Ainley (2007). Storm-petrels of the Eastern Pacific Ocean: Species assembly and diversity along marine habitat gradients. Ornithological Monographs 62:1–77. Close ). During the night, behaviors are unknown and could be studied through the use of the activity data of geolocators.

No information available.

As in all the storm-petrels, Markham's Storm-Petrel is presumably socially and genetically monogamous (39 Winkler, D. W., S. M. Billerman, and I. J. Lovette (2020). Northern Storm-Petrels (Hydrobatidae), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.hydrob1.01 Close ). No other information is known about the sexual behavior in this species.

Degree of Sociality

When at sea, this species is usually solitary or in small groups (3 Howell, S. N. G. (2012) Petrels, albatrosses, and storm-petrels of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Close ).

Nonpredatory Interspecific Interactions

May associate loosely with other species of storm-petrel (3 Howell, S. N. G. (2012) Petrels, albatrosses, and storm-petrels of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Close ) (e.g., Elliot's Storm-Petrel (Oceanites gracilis)) (Moreno, eBird). In Pampa Quiuña, Pampa Hermosa, and Loa, it can breed in the same colonies shared with Ringed Storm-Petrel (Hydrobates hornbyi) and Elliot's Storm-Petrel (32 Medrano, F., R. Silva, R. Barros, D. Terán, R. Peredo, B. Gallardo, P. Cerpa, F. de Groote, P. Gutiérrez, and I. Tejeda (2019). Nuevos antecedentes sobre la historia natural y conservación de la golondrina de mar negra (Oceanodroma markhami) y la golondrina de mar de collar (Oceanodroma hornbyi) en Chile. Revista Chilena de Ornitología 25:21-30. Close , 33 Malinarich, V and A. Vallverdú (2021). Estudio de las poblaciones de golondrinas de mar en la región de Tarapacá. Reporte técnico Unidad de Recursos Naturales Renovables, Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero, Tarapacá. Close , 34 Carevic, F., Sielfeld, W., Alarcón, E. and A. del Campo (2023). Discovery of a new colony and nest attendance patterns of two Hydrobates storm-petrels in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 135: 1-7. Close ).

Kinds of Predators

Marine predators likely include skuas, jaegers (Stercorariidae), and large gulls (Larus spp.).

The primary nest predators are Sechura fox (Lycalopex sechurae), Culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus), and South American gray fox (Lycalopex griseus; 26 Jahncke, J. (1993). Primer informe del área de anidación de la Golondrina de la Tempestad Negra Oceanodroma markhami (Salvin, 1883). In Memoria del X Congreso Nacional de Biología, Lima, Peru, 2–7 agosto 1992 (E. Castillo de Maruenda, Editor) Colegio de Biólogos del Perú, Lima. pp. 339–343. In Spanish. Close , 32 Medrano, F., R. Silva, R. Barros, D. Terán, R. Peredo, B. Gallardo, P. Cerpa, F. de Groote, P. Gutiérrez, and I. Tejeda (2019). Nuevos antecedentes sobre la historia natural y conservación de la golondrina de mar negra (Oceanodroma markhami) y la golondrina de mar de collar (Oceanodroma hornbyi) en Chile. Revista Chilena de Ornitología 25:21-30. Close , 34 Carevic, F., Sielfeld, W., Alarcón, E. and A. del Campo (2023). Discovery of a new colony and nest attendance patterns of two Hydrobates storm-petrels in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 135: 1-7. Close , Gallardo et al., unpublished data).

Fledglings are also taken by Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), and Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) (40 Sabaté A., and M. Illa (2020) Presencia de la golondrina de mar negra (Oceanodroma markhami) en la dieta del pequén (Athene cunicularia) en los alrededores de Arica. Revista Chilena de Ornitología 26: 19-21 Close ), as well as ants (Pheidole chilensis) and dogs (23 Barros, R., F. Medrano, H. V. Norambuena, R. Peredo, R. Silva, F. de Groote and F. Schmitt (2019) Breeding phenology, distribution and conservation status of Markham's Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma markhami in the Atacama Desert. Ardea 107: 75–84. Close ).

Response to Predators

No information.