Common diving petrel | |
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Nominate adult Pelecanoides urinatrix specimen. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Procellariiformes |
Family: | Procellariidae |
Genus: | Pelecanoides |
Species: | P. urinatrix |
Binomial name | |
Pelecanoides urinatrix (Gmelin, JF, 1789) | |
The common diving petrel (Pelecanoides urinatrix), also known as the smaller diving petrel or simply the diving petrel, is a diving petrel, one of four very similar auk-like small petrels of the southern oceans. It is native to South Atlantic islands and islands of the subantarctic southern Indian Ocean, islands and islets off New Zealand and south-eastern Australian islands.
The common diving petrel was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin. He placed it with the other petrels in the genus Procellaria and coined the binomial name Procellaria uriatrix. [2] Gmelin based his description on the "diving petrel" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in the second volume of his A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham reported that they were found in great numbers in Queen Charlotte Sound at the northern end of South Island, New Zealand. [3] The common diving petrel is now one of four petrels placed in the genus Pelecanoides that was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède. [4] [5] The genus name, Pelecanoides, means "Pelican-resembling", which was assigned to the diving petrels on account of their expandable throat pouches that they use to carry food. Its specific name, urinatrix, is derived from the Latin term, urinator, which means "diver". Its subspecies' names include chathamensis, referring to the Chatham Islands, exsul, meaning "isolated" or "remote", dacunhae, referring to the Tristan da Cunha Islands, berard, honoring French navigator Auguste Bérard, and coppingeri, which honors Royal Navy surgeon and naturalist Richard William Coppinger.
There are six subspecies (also listed above), which vary in body measurements, particularly bill size: [6] [7]
The common diving petrel is a small, plump petrel, 200 to 250 mm (7.9–9.8 in) in length and weighing around 86 to 186 g (3.0–6.6 oz). The plumage is black above and dull white below and it has a relatively short black bill. [8] The wings have thin white strips. The face and neck can be more brown than black. The legs and feet are blue with blackish-brown webbing in between the toes. [8] Unless seen very close, it is almost indistinguishable from the South Georgian diving petrel, P. georgicus. The common diving petrel has brown inner web primary feathers, whereas the South Georgia petrel has light inner web feathering. Common petrels have smaller and narrower bills than the South Georgia petrel. [7] [8] Another difference is that the South Georgia diving petrel has a posterior black line down the tarsi. The common species is also slightly larger than the South Georgian species.
The common diving petrel is found between latitudes 35 and 55 degrees south, mostly around islands. [8] While the population is decreasing, it is not believed to be rapid enough to be of concern. [9] While 1.5 m (4.9 ft) burrows are usually dug in vegetated slopes, though they are occasionally built in flatland. [8]
The common diving petrel feeds on the continental shelf during the breeding season, its movements during the non-breeding season are poorly known and whether it disperses more widely is not known. Like other members of their family they catch prey by wing-propelled diving, and are capable of diving to 60 m (200 ft). The diet of this species is dominated by crustaceans. [7] They are known to forage at night on vertically migrating plankton. Feeding is mostly done in the ocean near the shore, but sometimes in the deeper pelagic zone during non-breeding season, which is only 2 months of the year. [8]
The mating habits are not well documented, although pairs form monogamous relationships. Breeding colonies are large and there is about one nest per 1 square metre (11 sq ft). [8] The nest is a burrow around 50 cm long with a chamber at the bottom which may or may not be lined with dried grass. Females lay a single white egg, which measures 38 x 29 mm, [10] and is incubated for 53–55 days. The young are brooded for 10–15 days and fledgling occurs at 45–59 days. Both parents take care of the young, which are grey-grown when hatched. The life expectancy is 6.5 years. [8]
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.
The white-faced storm petrel, also known as white-faced petrel is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Pelagodroma.
The wedge-tailed shearwater is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and the short-tailed shearwater of Australia. It is found throughout the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, roughly between latitudes 35°N and 35°S. It breeds on the islands off Japan, on the Islas Revillagigedo, the Hawaiian Islands, the Seychelles, the Northern Mariana Islands, and off Eastern and Western Australia.
The Peruvian diving petrel is a small seabird that feeds in offshore waters in the Humboldt Current off Peru and Chile.
The Antarctic petrel is a boldly marked dark brown and white petrel, found in Antarctica, most commonly in the Ross and Weddell Seas. They eat Antarctic krill, fish, and small squid. They feed while swimming but can dive from both the surface and the air.
The blue petrel is a small seabird in the shearwater and petrel family, Procellariidae. This small petrel is the only member of the genus Halobaena, but is closely allied to the prions. It is distributed across the Southern Ocean but breeds at a few island sites, all close to the Antarctic Convergence zone.
The Cape petrel, also called the Cape pigeon, pintado petrel, or Cape fulmar, is a common seabird of the Southern Ocean from the family Procellariidae. It is the only member of the genus Daption, and is allied to the fulmarine petrels, and the giant petrels. They are extremely common seabirds with an estimated population of around 2 million.
The white-chinned petrel also known as the Cape hen and shoemaker, is a large shearwater in the family Procellariidae. It ranges around the Southern Ocean as far north as southern Australia, Peru and Namibia, and breeds colonially on scattered islands. The white-chinned petrel was formerly considered to be conspecific with the spectacled petrel.
The fork-tailed storm petrel is a small seabird of the storm petrel family Hydrobatidae. It is the second-most abundant and widespread storm petrel and is the only bird in its family that is bluish-grey in colour.
The Antarctic prion also known as the dove prion, or totorore in Māori, is the largest of the prions, a genus of small petrels of the Southern Ocean.
The grey petrel, also called the brown petrel, pediunker or grey shearwater is a species of seabird in the Procellariidae, or petrel family. It is pelagic and occurs in the open seas of the Southern Hemisphere, mainly between 32°S and 58°S.
The South Georgia diving petrel or Georgian diving-petrel is one of five very similar small auk-like diving petrels of the southern oceans. It is native to the South Atlantic and islands of the southern Indian Ocean and south-eastern Australia.
The Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra is a tundra ecoregion that includes several subantarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean.
The Whenua Hou diving-petrel known also as Kuaka, is a highly endangered subspecies of the South Georgia diving petrel that is endemic to New Zealand.