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Procellariidae
The family (biology), family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prion (bird), prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order (biology), order Procellariiformes (or tubenoses), which also includes the albatrosses and the storm petrels. The procellariids are the most numerous family of tubenoses, and the most diverse. They range in size from the giant petrels with a wingspan of around , that are almost as large as the albatrosses, to the diving petrels with a wingspan of around that are similar in size to the little auks or dovekies in the family Alcidae. Male and female birds are identical in appearance. The plumage color is generally dull, with blacks, whites, browns and grays. The birds feed on fish, squid and crustacea, with many also taking Discards, fisheries discards and carrion. Whilst agile swimmers and excellent in water, petrels have weak legs and can only shuffle o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procellariiformes
Procellariiformes is an order (biology), order of seabirds that comprises four family (biology), families: the albatrosses, the Procellariidae, petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels. Formerly called Tubinares and still called tubenoses in English, procellariiforms are often referred to collectively as the petrels, a term that has been applied to all members of the order,Warham, J. (1996). ''The Behaviour, Population, Biology and Physiology of the Petrels''. London: Academic Press, or more commonly all the families except the albatrosses.Brooke, 2004. They are almost exclusively pelagic (feeding in the open ocean), and have a cosmopolitan distribution across the world's oceans, with the highest species diversity, diversity being around New Zealand. Procellariiforms are seabird colony, colonial, mostly nesting on remote, predator-free islands. The larger species nest on the surface, while most smaller species nest in natural cavities and burrows. They exhibit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macronectes
Giant petrels form a genus, ''Macronectes'', from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two living and one extinct species. They are the largest birds in this family. Both extant species in the genus are native to the Southern Hemisphere. Giant petrels are extremely aggressive predators and scavengers, inspiring another common name, the stinker. Seamen and whalers also referred to the giant petrel as the molly-hawk, gong, glutton bird and nelly. They are the only member of their family that is capable of walking on land. Taxonomy The genus ''Macronectes'' was introduced in 1905 by the American ornithologist Charles Wallace Richmond to accommodate what is now the southern giant petrel. It replaced the previous genus ''Ossifraga'' which was found to have been earlier applied to a different group of birds. The name ''Macronectes'' combines the Ancient Greek ''makros'' meaning "great" and ''nēktēs'' meaning "swimmer". The present-day giant petrels are two large seabirds fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diving Petrel
The diving petrels form a genus, ''Pelecanoides'', of seabirds in the family Procellariidae. There are four very similar species of diving petrels, distinguished only by small differences in the coloration of their plumage, habitat, and bill construction. They are only found in the southern hemisphere. The diving petrels were formerly placed in their own family, the Pelecanoididae. Diving petrels are auk-like small petrels of the southern oceans. The resemblances with the auks are due to convergent evolution, since both families feed by pursuit diving, although some researchers have in the past suggested that the similarities are due to relatedness. Among the Procellariiformes the diving petrels are the family most adapted to life in the sea rather than flying over it, and are generally found closer inshore than other families in the order. Taxonomy The genus ''Pelecanoides'' was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède for the common diving pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fulmarine Petrel
The fulmarine petrels or fulmar-petrels are a distinct group of petrels within the family Procellariidae. They are the most variable of the four groups within the Procellariidae, differing greatly in size and biology. They do, however, have a unifying feature, their skull, and in particular their nasal tubes. They are predominantly found in the Southern Ocean with one species, the northern fulmar, ranging in the North Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Fossils of fulmarine petrels dating back to the Upper Miocene have been found in Menorca. Taxonomy A multigene genetic study published in 2021 provided a genus-level phylogeny of extant genera in the family and showed that the fulmarine patrels make an apparent clade. Species by genus ''Macronectes'' ''Macronectes'' includes: * ''Macronectes halli'', northern giant petrel, located in the southern oceans, north of the Antarctic Convergence * ''Macronectes giganteus'', southern giant petrel, located in the southern oceans, and southern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding ecological niche, niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous geological period, period, while modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. Seabirds generally live longer, Reproduction, breed later and have fewer young than other birds, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in Bird colony, colonies, varying in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual bird migration, migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puffinus
''Puffinus'' is a genus of seabirds in the order Procellariiformes that contains about 20 small to medium-sized shearwaters. Two other shearwater genera are named: '' Calonectris'', which comprises three or four large shearwaters, and '' Ardenna'' with another seven species (formerly often included within ''Puffinus''). The taxonomy of this group is the cause of much debate, and the number of recognised species varies with the source. The species in this group are long-winged birds, dark brown or black above, and white to dark brown below. They are pelagic outside the breeding season. They are most common in temperate and cold waters. These tubenose birds fly with stiff wings, and use a shearing flight technique to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight. Some small species, such as the Manx shearwater, are cruciform in flight, with their long wings held directly out from their bodies. Many are long-distance migrants, perhaps most spectacularly the sooty an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelecanoides
The diving petrels form a genus, ''Pelecanoides'', of seabirds in the family (biology), family Procellariidae. There are four very similar species of diving petrels, distinguished only by small differences in the coloration of their plumage, habitat, and beak, bill construction. They are only found in the southern hemisphere. The diving petrels were formerly placed in their own family, the Pelecanoididae. Diving petrels are auk-like small petrels of the southern oceans. The resemblances with the auks are due to convergent evolution, since both family (biology), families feed by pursuit diving, although some researchers have in the past suggested that the similarities are due to relatedness. Among the Procellariiformes the diving petrels are the family most adapted to life in the sea rather than flying over it, and are generally found closer inshore than other families in the order. Taxonomy The genus ''Pelecanoides'' was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ardenna
''Ardenna'' is a genus of seabirds in the family Procellariidae. These medium-sized to large shearwater species were formerly included in the genus ''Puffinus''. Taxonomy A phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial DNA published in 2004 found that ''Puffinus'' contained two distinct clades and was polyphyletic, with ''Puffinus'' more closely related to ''Calonectris'' than to ''Ardenna''. To create monophyletic genera a group of species were moved into ''Ardenna'', a genus that had been introduced in 1853 by Ludwig Reichenbach with the great shearwater as the type species. Reichenbach cites the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi who in 1603 used the spelling "Artenna" for a seabird. Recent genomic studies have validated the phylogenetic distinction between ''Ardenna'' and ''Puffinus'', though this study finding ''Ardenna'' rather than ''Puffinus'' being closer to ''Calonectris''. Species Extant The genus contains seven extant species as shown below: Extinct The genus contains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shearwater
Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season. Description These tubenose birds fly with stiff wings and use a "shearing" flight technique (flying very close to the water and seemingly cutting or "shearing" the tips of waves) to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight. This technique gives the group its English name. Some small species like the Manx shearwater are cruciform in flight, with their long wings held directly out from their bodies. Behaviour Movements Many shearwaters are long-distance migrants, perhaps most spectacularly sooty shearwaters, which cover distances in excess of from their breeding colonies on the Falkland Islands (52°S 60°W) to as far as 70° north latitude in the North Atlantic Ocean off northern Norway, and around New Zealand to as far as 60° north latitude i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachyptila
''Pachyptila'' is a genus of seabirds in the family (biology), family Procellariidae and the order (biology), order Procellariiformes. The members of this genus and the blue petrel form a sub-group called Prion (bird), prions. They range throughout the southern hemisphere, often in the much cooler higher latitudes. Three species, the broad-billed prion (''Pachyptila vittata''), the Antarctic prion (''Pachyptila desolata'') and the fairy prion (''Pachyptila turtur''), range into the subtropics. Taxonomy The genus ''Pachyptila'' was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. The name combines the Ancient Greek ''pakhus '' meaning "dense" or "thick" with ''ptilon'' meaning "feather" or "plumage". The type species was subsequently designated as the broad-billed prion by English naturalist Prideaux John Selby in 1840. The English name "prion" comes from the Ancient Greek (', "saw"), in reference to the serrated edges of its beak, bill. All the members of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procellaria
Procellaria is a genus of Southern Ocean long-winged seabirds related to prions, and within the order Procellariiformes. The black petrel (''Procellaria parkinsoni'') ranges in the Pacific Ocean, and as far north as Central America. The spectacled petrel (''Procellaria conspicillata'') is confined to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Westland petrel (''Procellaria westlandica'') to the Pacific Ocean. The white-chinned (''Procellaria aequinoctialis'') and grey petrel (''Procellaria cinerea'') range throughout the higher latitudes of the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy The genus ''Procellaria'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The name is from the Latin ''procella'' meaning "storm" or "gale". The type species was designated as the white-chinned petrel by George Robert Gray in 1840. The genus ''Procellaria'' is within the Procellariinae clade, which includes the Shearwaters (a monophyletic group comprising ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
