| Peruvian diving petrel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| fledgling | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Procellariidae |
| Genus: | Pelecanoides |
| Species: | P. garnotii |
| Binomial name | |
| Pelecanoides garnotii (Lesson, RP & Garnot, 1828) | |
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The Peruvian diving petrel (Pelecanoides garnotii) (local name in Peru: potoyunco) is a small seabird that feeds in offshore waters in the Humboldt Current off Peru and Chile.
The Peruvian diving petrel was formally described in 1828 by the French naturalists René Lesson and Prosper Garnot under the binomial name Puffinuria garnotti. In his book Manuel d'ornithologie Lesson quotes the text of a description written by Garnot. [2] The Peruvian diving petrel is now placed in the genus Pelecanoides was originally introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède for the common diving petrel. [3] [4] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [4]
Peruvian diving petrel is 20–24 cm (7.9–9.4 in) in overall length. Like the rest of the diving petrels it is a nondescript bird, with a dark back and pale belly, and blue feet, and can be separated from the rest of its family only by differences in its beak and nostrils. [5]
Unlike the common diving petrel and the South Georgia diving petrel it feeds in cold, offshore, often pelagic water, obtaining small fish larvae and planktonic crustaceans by pursuit diving. The main part of his food is made up by plankton organisms (85.3-91.1%). The remaining percentage of the Peruvian diving petrel's food is fish, mainly anchovies. Peruvian diving petrels can dive up to 83 metres (270 ft) deep but the average depth was recorded at around 30 metres (100 ft). It was long thought that the Peruvian diving petrel was rather bad in flying. However, great numbers of birds have been observed fishing regularly in the area between Asia Island and Pachacamac Island at a distance of 150-200 kilometres north of their Peruvian breeding grounds.
The Peruvian diving petrel has become locally extinct on many of its former colonies and now nests only on a few offshore islands. A total population of 12,216 breeding pairs was estimated for San Gallán and La Vieja Islands in Peru, with some small additional breeding colonies reported for Corcovado Island in Peru, as well as Pan de Azucar Island, Choros islands, Grande and Pajaros islands in Chile. They breed year round, laying a single egg in a burrow dug into guano.
Peruvian diving petrels are considered Near Threatened. They formerly numbered in the millions, but the pressures of guano extraction (which destroyed nests, eggs and chicks), and being directly taken for food by guano workers and introduced species (particularly foxes and feral cats), have caused the number to crash. Although all of the Peruvian breeding sites are located in protected areas (Paracas National Reserve and Guano Islands National Reserve) some guano extraction still continues and the reserves are ineffectively policed.
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, or more commonly all the families except the albatrosses. They are almost exclusively pelagic, and have a cosmopolitan distribution across the world's oceans, with the highest diversity being around New Zealand.
Seabirds 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.
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 Peruvian pelican is a member of the pelican family. It lives on the west coast of South America, breeding in loose colonies from about 33.5 degrees south in central Chile to Piura in northern Peru, and occurring as a visitor in southern Chile and Ecuador. It used to be considered a subspecies of the brown pelican.
The Inca tern is a Near Threatened species of bird in subfamily Sterninae of the family Laridae, the gulls, terns, and skimmers. It is found in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru and has wandered to Central America and Hawaii.
The Magellanic diving-petrel is a species of diving petrel, one of five very similar, small, auk-like petrels found exclusively in the southern oceans. It is one of the smaller species of diving-petrels, though size differences are seemingly indistinguishable between species unless seen up close. It is probably the least known of all five species.
The common diving petrel , 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 Peruvian booby is an endemic bird of the Peruvian current, and an important predator of the marine community to which it belongs. Its distribution is much less widespread than other closely related booby species. It is the most abundant seabird species that inhabits the Peruvian coast and the second most important guano-producing seabird. During the mid-twentieth century, the Peruvian booby population reached 3 million birds.
The Kerguelen petrel is a small slate-grey seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Aphrodroma. It is a pelagic, circumpolar seabird of the Southern Ocean. It breeds on islands in the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
The white-bellied storm petrel is a species of seabird in the family Oceanitidae. It is found in Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Maldives, Namibia, New Zealand, Perú, Saint Helena, and South Africa. Its natural habitat is open seas.
The Tahiti petrel is a medium-sized, dark brown and white seabird found across the Pacifc Ocean. The species comprises two subspecies: P. r. rostrata which breeds in the west-central Pacific Ocean, and P. r. trouessarti which breeds in the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean. The Tahiti petrel belongs to the Procellariidae family and is the most studied member of the Pseudobulweria genus which comprises three critically endangered species. Similarly, the Tahiti petrel is considered near threatened by the 2018 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Threats include introduced rats, feral cats, pigs, dogs, nickel mining, and light pollution.
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.
Bird Island is one of the Falkland Islands. It lies due south of West Falkland, near Port Stephens and Calm Head. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.
The Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra is a tundra ecoregion that includes several subantarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean.
Walker Island is an island located close to the south-western coast of Tasmania, Australia. The 15-hectare (0.058 sq mi) island is part of the Maatsuyker Islands Group, and comprise part of the Southwest National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site.
Flat Top Island is an island located close to the south-western coast of Tasmania, Australia. The 1.58-hectare (0.0061 sq mi) island is part of the Maatsuyker Islands Group, and comprises part of the Southwest National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site.
Round Top Island is an island located close to the south-western coast of Tasmania, Australia. The 6.25-hectare (0.0241 sq mi) island is part of the Maatsuyker Islands Group, and comprises part of the Southwest National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site.
