Fairy prion
Fairy prion | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Procellariiformes |
Family: | Procellariidae |
Genus: | Pachyptila |
Species: | P. turtur
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Binomial name | |
Pachyptila turtur (Kuhl, 1820)
| |
The fairy prion (Pachyptila turtur) is a small seabird with the standard prion plumage of blue-grey upperparts with a prominent dark "M" marking and white underneath. The sexes are alike. It is a small prion which frequents the low subantarctic and subtropic seas.
Taxonomy
The fairy prion was
The fairy prion is a member of the
The birds produce a stomach oil made up of
Description
The fairy prion is around 25 cm (9.8 in) in length, with a wingspan of 56 cm (22 in). The plumage is blue-grey on its upperparts with a dark "M" extending to the wingtips. The tail is wedge-shaped with a dark tip. The underparts are mostly white. It has a pale blue bill with blue legs and feet. The sexes are alike. In appearance, it is very similar to the fulmar prion (Pachyptila crassirostris), and the two species cannot be distinguished at sea.[9]
Distribution and habitat
The fairy prion is found throughout oceans and coastal areas in the
Behavior
Food and feeding
The diet consists mainly of planktonic crustaceans and tiny fish, which they catch by either seizing prey while on the surface or by dipping their bill into the water while in flight.[9][12]
Breeding
They breed
Conservation
Widespread and common throughout its large range, with an estimated population of 5,000,000, the fairy prion is evaluated as least concern on the
References
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Kuhl, Heinrich (1820). Beiträge zur Zoologie und vergleichenden Anatomie (in German and Latin). Frankfurt am Main: Verlag der Hermannschen Buchhandlung. p. 143.
- ^ Illiger, Johann Karl Wilhelm (1811). Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium (in Latin). Berolini [Berlin]: Sumptibus C. Salfeld. p. 274.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ISBN 0-8160-3377-3.
- ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.
- ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.
- ISBN 0-671-65989-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ ISBN 978-0-19-553068-1.
- ^ ISBN 1-56458-295-7.
- ^ "Fairy Prion (Pachyptila turtur) - BirdLife species factsheet". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ Harper (1987). "Feeding behaviour and other notes on 20 species of Procellariiformes at sea". Notornis. 34 (3): 169–192.
- ^ BirdLife International (2009)
Sources
- Double, M. C. (2003). "Procellariiformes (Tubenosed Seabirds)". In Hutchins, Michael; Jackson, Jerome A.; Bock, Walter J.; Olendorf, Donna (eds.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins. Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 107–111. ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.
- Ehrlich, Paul R.; Dobkin, David, S.; Wheye, Darryl (1988). The Birders Handbook (First ed.). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. pp. 29–31. ISBN 0-671-65989-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Gotch, A. F. (1995) [1979]. "Albatrosses, Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels". Latin Names Explained A Guide to the Scientific Classifications of Reptiles, Birds & Mammals. New York, NY: Facts on File. p. 192. ISBN 0-8160-3377-3.
- ISBN 1-56458-295-7.
- Maynard, B. J. (2003). "Shearwaters, petrels, and fulmars (Procellariidae)". In Hutchins, Michael; Jackson, Jerome A.; Bock, Walter J.; Olendorf, Donna (eds.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins. Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 123–133. ISBN 0-7876-5784-0.