Bulweria is a genus of seabirds in the familyProcellariidae named after English naturalist James Bulwer. The genus has two extant species, Bulwer's petrel and Jouanin's petrel. A third species, the Olson's petrel, became extinct in the early 16th century; it is known only from skeletal remains. Bulwer's petrel ranges in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, whereas Joaunin's petrel is confined to the northwestern Indian Ocean. Olson's petrel is known from the Atlantic.
The genus Bulweria was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte to accommodate Bulwer's petrel.[2] The petrel had originally been placed in the genus Procellaria. The genus name is from the specific epithet for Bulwer's petrel, bulwerii. This had been coined in 1828 by the naturalists Jardine and Selby to acknowledge the artist and naturalist James Bulwer who had collected the type specimen on the island of Madeira.[3]