What does a giant antarctic petrel look like?

Physical description. Southern giant petrels have two distinct colour phases, white and dark. Dark phase adults have a grey-brown body with white head, neck and brown speckled breast. Juveniles of dark phase birds have a dark brown body with a dark brown iris, which closely resemble northern giant petrel juveniles.

1. What does a giant petrel look like?
2. What does a petrel look like?
3. How big is a giant petrel?
4. What eats southern giant petrel?
5. Do seals eat petrels?
6. What Colour is petrel?
7. Is a petrel a penguin?
8. Does Petrel eat krill?
9. Is a petrel an albatross?
10. Where do petrel birds live?
11. How far can a petrel fly?
12. What type of feeder is a giant petrel?
13. Do giant petrels eat penguins?
14. How tall is a southern giant petrel?

What does a giant petrel look like?

There are two forms of giant petrels, a more common darker grey brown form with a head and neck that becomes paler with age, and a rarer much lighter form, mainly white and flecked with black. They have a large and strong bill capable of ripping open carcasses to feed.

What does a petrel look like?

Appearance: Oceanitinae – Square tails, long skulls, long legs, short wings. Most species of this family have dark backs and heads with white underparts. Hydrobatinae – Forked or wedge-shaped tails, longer wings, shorter legs. Most Hydrobatinae members are darker with white on the rump.

How big is a giant petrel?

Length: Northern – 80 to 95 cm. Southern – 85 to 100 cm. Weight: Northern – 3 to 5 kg.

What eats southern giant petrel?

Predation by feral cats and black rats on breeding islands. Habitat degradation on breeding islands from introduced caribou, sheep and rabbits. Loss of the southern cuttlefish populations. Oil spills.

Do seals eat petrels?

Their diet changes with age and opportunities. Young seals eat krill, squid and fish. ... They are an important food source for whales, seals, squid, icefish, penguins, petrels and many other species of birds. Antarctic silverfish are small, pelagic fish – about the size of a sardine.

What Colour is petrel?

(Britain) A greyish blue colour, tinted with green.

Is a petrel a penguin?

Petrels have a high supply stress and altriciality coefficient, compared to birds, while penguins are a very small altriciality coefficient. ... They have a relatively long life span, compared to other birds, but not extreme. The relative egg size of penguins is typical for birds, to smaller than typical.

Does Petrel eat krill?

Southern giant petrels eat mostly invertebrates (krill, squid, etc.) or scavenge for dead and decaying matter. They are particularly adept at following fishing vessels and preying on dead fish and/or invertebrates that the boats discard.

Is a petrel an albatross?

The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross family, Diomedeidae).

Where do petrel birds live?

Habitat of the Petrel

Many spend most of their lives out on the open ocean or hunting near coastal waters or around islands. The temperature regions vary between the extremes. Some species live only in tropical oceans near small islands, while others live in frigid Antarctic or Arctic waters.

How far can a petrel fly?

During egg incubation, white-chinned petrels undertake long foraging trips of up to 15 days duration (mean of 13 days) and travelling up to more than 8000 km (Berrow et al., 2000).

What type of feeder is a giant petrel?

Feeding. Petrels are highly opportunistic feeders. Unique among procellarids, they will feed both on land and at sea; in fact, they find most of their food near coastlines. On land, they feed on carrion, and regularly scavenge the breeding colonies of penguins and seals.

Do giant petrels eat penguins?

Studies at most breeding islands have found that adult penguins predominate in giant petrel diets (Warham 1962, Johnstone 1977, Marchant & Higgins 1990), comprising 50–80% of prey by mass (Hunter 1983, 1985, Ridoux 1994).

How tall is a southern giant petrel?

The southern giant petrel measures 86 to 99 cm (34–39 in) with a wingspan of 185 to 205 cm (6 ft 1 in–6 ft 9 in). Both this and the northern giant petrel vary considerably in size, with southern colonies averaging larger than northern colonies, in line with Bergmann's rule.