White-chinned Petrel

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iWhite-chinned Petrel
Conservation status
Vulnerable (VU)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae Genus: Procellaria Species: P. aequinoctialis
Binomial name
Procellaria aequinoctialis Linnaeus, 1758

The White-chinned Petrel is large shearwater in the family Procellariidae. It ranges around the Southern Ocean as far north as South Australia, Peru and Namibia, and breeds colonially on scattered islands; South Georgia, Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Auckland Island, Campbell Island and Antipodes Islands. Their diet is composed mainly of krill (42%) followed by fish.^[1] White-chinned Petrels feed by surface seizing and by undertaking shallow dives^[2], and they will readily follow ships to collect fisheries discards,^[3] making them vulnerable to long line fisheries.

[edit] References

1. ^ Berrow, S., Croxall, J. (1999) " The diet of white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis, Linnaeus 1758, in years of contrasting prey availability at South Georgia" Antarctic Science 11: 283-292
2. ^ N. Huin (1994) "Diving Depths of White-Chinned Petrels" Condor . 96(4) 1111-1113
3. ^ Cherel, Y; Weimerskirch, H; Duhamel, G (1996) "Interactions between longline vessels and seabirds in Kerguelen waters and a method to reduce seabird mortality" Biological Conservation 75(1): 63-70