Habitat

Markham's Storm-Petrel breeds in holes and crevices in saltpeter deposits in the middle of the Sechura and Atacama deserts, up to 25 km from the coast (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 , 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 , 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 ). Exact locations are provided in Distribution. These crevices vary in size and depth. Colonies are not necessarily in flat areas, with some saltpeter deposits occurring on small hills. Sometimes, breeding colonies can have some sparse vegetation (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 ). The temperatures in the desert where these species breed could frequently surpass 40°C during the day, but inside the cavity, the temperatures are more stable, usually between 27.8-30.2°C (31 Malinarich V., P. Araneda, and A. Vallverdú (2018). Diagnóstico del estado de las poblaciones de golondrina de mar negra en la región de Tarapacá. Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero de Chile, Iquique, Chile. 59 pp. Close ).

Offshore, Markham's Storm-Petrel primarily favors the cool, inshore waters of the Humboldt Current, and secondarily, the Costa Rica and Southern Equatorial currents. Density increases with salinity and decreases with sea-surface temperature, wind speed above 25 km/hr, and distance from mainland (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 ). While Markham's Storm-Petrel can occur across a range of water temperatures, the mean water temperature is 21.1°C (± 1.4). Birds prefer water with a salinity of 32-33.5 ppt salinity (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 ).