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The word petrel (first recorded in that spelling 1703) comes from earlier (ca. 1670) pitteral; the English explorer William Dampier wrote the bird was so called from its way of flying with its feet just skimming the surface of the water, recalling Saint Peter's walk on the sea of Galilee (Matthew xiv.28); if so, it likely was formed in English as a diminutive of Peter (< Old French: Peterelle ...
The fulmarine petrels include the largest procellariids, the giant petrels, as well as the two fulmar species, the snow petrel, the Antarctic petrel, and the Cape petrel. The fulmarine petrels are a diverse group with differing habits and appearances, but are linked morphologically by their skull features, particularly the long prominent nasal ...
In general, petrels were considered to be "soul birds", representing the souls of drowned sailors, and it was considered unlucky to touch them. [78] In the Russian language, many petrel species from the Hydrobatidae and Procellariidae families of the order Procellariiformes are known as burevestnik, which literally means 'the announcer of the ...
The genus Pseudobulweria was introduced in 1936 by the Australian born ornithologist Gregory Mathews with the Fiji petrel as the type species.Mathews suggested that petrels in his new genus Pseudobulweria had longer wings than those in Bulweria: "In Bulweria the wing measurement is less than twice the tail measurement; in Pseudobulweria the wing measurement is more than twice that of the tail."
The Henderson petrel (Pterodroma atrata) is a ground-nesting species of gadfly petrel in the family Procellariidae. Adults measure on average 37 cm. Adults measure on average 37 cm. It has a uniform grey-brown plumage.
The Juan Fernández petrel (Pterodroma externa) is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. It nests on a single island off the coast of Chile, in the Juan Fernández Archipelago . It was previously classified as a subspecies of the white-necked petrel ( Pterodroma cervicalis ), which is found in tropical waters of the Pacific and ...
However, the providence petrel is deemed to be in a precarious position because its breeding is confined to two mountain tops and one tiny islet, and is therefore at great risk from a catastrophe. Graceful and supple in flight, the providence petrel has a cumbersome propensity on the ground, making it vulnerable to attack by predators.
The snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) is the only member of the genus Pagodroma. It is one of only three birds that have been seen at the Geographic South Pole , along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua , which has the most southerly breeding sites of any bird, inland in Antarctica.