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Procellariidae
The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird 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 fisheries discards and carrion. Whilst agile swimmers and excellent in water, petrels have weak legs and can only shuffle on land, with the giant petrels of the genus Macronectes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procellariiformes
Procellariiformes is an order of seabirds that comprises four families: the albatrosses, the 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 diversity being around New Zealand. Procellariiforms are 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 strong philopatry, returning to their natal colony to breed and returning to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macronectes
Giant petrels form a genus, ''Macronectes'', from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two species. They are the largest birds of this family. Both species are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, and though their distributions overlap significantly, with both species breeding on the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island, and South Georgia, many southern giant petrels nest farther south, with colonies as far south as Antarctica. Giant petrels are extremely aggressive predators and scavengers, inspiring another common name, the stinker. South Sea whalers used to call them gluttons. 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Petrel
Giant petrels form a genus, ''Macronectes'', from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two species. They are the largest birds of this family. Both species are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, and though their distributions overlap significantly, with both species breeding on the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island, and South Georgia, many southern giant petrels nest farther south, with colonies as far south as Antarctica. Giant petrels are extremely aggressive predators and scavengers, inspiring another common name, the stinker. South Sea whalers used to call them gluttons. 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 grou ... [...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] |
Pelecanoides
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 petre ... [...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. Species * Northern giant petrel, ''Macronectes halli'' * Southern giant petrel, ''Macronectes giganteus'' * Northern fulmar, ''Fulmarus glacialis'' * Southern fulmar, ''Fulmarus glacialoides'' * Antarctic petrel, ''Thalassoica antarctica'' * Cape petrel, ''Daption capense'' * Snow petrel The snow petrel (''Pagodroma nivea'') is the only member of the genus ''Pagodroma.'' It is one of only three birds that has been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, which have the most s .. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shearwater
Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order Procellariiformes (or tubenoses), which also .... They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season. Description These Procellariiformes, 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 s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. In general, seabirds live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pachyptila
''Pachyptila'' is a genus of seabirds in the family Procellariidae and the order Procellariiformes. The members of this genus and the blue petrel form a sub-group called 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 bill. All the members of this genus, along with the rest of the Procellariif ... [...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 aequincotialis'') 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 ''P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudobulweria
__NOTOC__ ''Pseudobulweria'' is a genus of seabirds in the family Procellariidae. They have long been retained with the gadfly petrel genus ''Pterodroma'' despite morphological differences. Mitochondrial DNA cytochrome ''b'' sequence analysis has confirmed the split out of ''Pterodroma'' and places the genus closer to shearwaters. They thus represent either a plesiomorphic lineage still sharing some traits of the ancestral Procellariidae with the gadfly petrels, or convergent evolution of a shearwater to the ecological niche of gadfly petrels. They are a poorly known and highly endangered group: 3 of the 4 extant species are listed by the IUCN as critically endangered. The Tahiti petrel ('' Pseudobulweria rostrata'') is the most familiar and the best studied. Description and ecology They are generally largish darkish petrels, but may have white undersides. They are long-winged and fly about with rather leisurely wingbeats and soar a lot. Though they are attracted by chum, '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calonectris
''Calonectris'' is a genus of seabirds. The genus name comes from Ancient Greek ''kalos'', "good" and ''nectris'', "swimmer". The genus comprises four large shearwaters. There are two other shearwater genera. ''Puffinus'', which comprises about twenty small to medium-sized shearwaters, and ''Procellaria ''with another four large species. The latter are usually named as ''petrels'', although they are thought to be more closely related to the shearwaters than to the other petrels. The species in this group are long-winged birds, dark brown or grey-brown above, and mainly white 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. Their flight appears more albatross-like than the ''Puffinus'' species. ''Calonectris'' shearwaters are long-distance migrants. The streaked shearwater dispers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
