The pintado petrel ( Daption capense), also called the Cape petrel, or Cape fulmar,[
]
Taxonomy
The pintado petrel was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Procellaria capensis.[Gotch, A. T. (1995)] Historically, it was also sometimes known as "Cape pigeon", due to early sailors thinking it resembled a feral pigeon.
All Procellariiformes share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. They produce a stomach oil made up of and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defence against predators and as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.[Double, M. C. (2003)] Finally, they also have a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe. It excretes a high saline solution from their nose.[Ehrlich, Paul R. (1988)]
Description
The pintado petrel has a black head and neck, and a white belly, breast, and its underwing is white with a black border. Its back, and upperwings are black and white speckled, as is its tail which also has a band of black. It is long and the wingspan .
Two subspecies are recognised, though intermediates occur:
-
D. c. capense (Linnaeus, 1758) – breeds on circumpolar subantarctic islands, winters at sea north to around the Tropic of Capricorn and locally further north in cold currents (to the Equator around the Galapagos Islands). Larger; back white with black spots.
-
D. c. australe Gregory Mathews, 1913 – breeds on subantarctic islands around and south of New Zealand, extends northwest to southeastern Australian waters outside of the breeding season. Smaller; back solid blackish-brown down to the top of rump.
Distribution and habitat
During breeding season, pintado petrels feed at sea around Antarctica, and during the winter they range further north, as far as Angola and the Galapagos Islands. They breed on many islands of Antarctica and the subantarctic islands, some as far north as the Auckland Islands, the Chatham Islands, Campbell Island. Their main breeding grounds are on the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia, the Balleny Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, as well as islands in the Scotia Sea.[ZipCode Zoo (16 Jul 2009)] Birds have been reported from Northern Hemisphere waters, but are of unknown origin, probably captured by sailors and released in northern waters.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet is 80% , as well as fish and squid. Krill is their favoured crustacean, which they obtain by surface seizing as well as diving under water and filtering them out.[Harrison, C. & Greensmith, A. (1993)] They are also well known for following ships and eating edible waste and carcasses thrown overboard. They are aggressive while feeding and will spit their stomach oil at competitors, even their own species.
Breeding
They are seabird colony birds, and nest on cliffs or level ground within a kilometre of the ocean.
Conservation
The pintado petrel has an occurrence range of and a 2009 estimate places their population of adult birds at 2 million. Consequently, the IUCN rates them as least concern.[
]
==Gallery==
Sources
External links
