Diving Petrel
Pelecanoides garnotii
Pelecanoides magellani
Pelecanoides georgicus
Pelecanoides urinatrix
The diving petrels are seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. There are four very similar species all in the family Pelecanoididae and genus Pelecanoides (Lacépède, 1799), distinguished only by small differences in the coloration of their plumage and their bill construction.
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. Amongst 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.
Diving petrels are plankton feeders, taking mostly crustacean prey such as krill, copepods and the amphipod Themisto gaudichaudii, also taking small fish and squid. They have several adaptations for obtaining their prey including short powerful wings, a gular pouch for storing food, and their nostrils open upwards rather than forward pointing as it is in other tubenoses.
Read more about Diving Petrel: Description and Morphology, Breeding, Status and Conservation, Systematics and Evolution
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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