Talk:Petrel

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Procellariidae groups[edit]

HANZAB describes the Procellariidae this way (I'll paraphrase):

It is the main radiation of medium-sized 'true petrels', characterised by united nostrils with medium septum, and a long outer functional primary. Dominant in the Southern Ocean, not so in the N hemishpere. The giant-petrels Macronectes are convergent with the albatrosses.

Four main groups, but some species are borderline, which makes things difficult.

Fulmars: Macronectes, Fulmarus, Thalassoica, Daption, and Pagodroma. 7 species: surface predators and filter feeders, breed in high lattitudes but migrate along cool currents to he north. All but Fulmarus essentially confined to the south, Fulmaris apparently colonised the N hemisphere during the Tertiary.
Gadfly petrels: Pterodroma. 30 large and agile species. Short, sturdy bills adapted for soft prey at the surface; twisted intestines for digesting marine animals which have unusual biochemistries. Complex wing and face marking probably for inerspecific regognition. (So far, so good. Now it gets tricky. I'll quote directly.) "Some species placed in this group have an intermediate structure and intergrade with all the other groups distinguished here: Petrodroma (Lugensa) brevirostris, which moves S in winter, has distinctly big eyes like Pagodroma; Halobaena caerulea has a lumage similar to thjast of the prions; Bulweria has some structural resemblance to the shearwaters. At present it is difficult to determine their precise relationships." (HANZAB vol 1, p 355.) Since that was printed in 1990, the Kerguelen Petrel Petrodroma brevirostris has become Lugensa brevirostris, and the Tahiti Petrel, Petrodroma rostrata has become Psudobulweria rostrata'.
Prions: Pachyptila. Specialised group of 6 very numerous species, all southern. Have in common a progressive adaptation of small, fulmar-like form, filter-feed on zooplankton.
Shearwaters. Procellaria, Calonectris and 'Puffinus. About 20 species, long bills adapted to catching underwater prey, prefer warmer seas. Seem to have been very common in the Tethys Ocean in the iddle lattitudes of the N hemisphere during the Tertiary: aquatic specialisation may have developed there (free of competition from penguins) prior to a subsequent recolinisation of the southern waters.

. This is helpful (I think) in terms of clarifying the groups, but not in structuring the articles. I've never seen Fulmar used before to include anything but Fulmarus. Shearwater, Fulmar and Giant petrel are probably OK as they stand, but the other petrels are a mess. I think I'll leave all the Procellaridae petrels except Fulmar and giant petrel where they are for the time being, whilst I consider further. I can't imagine that people are queuing up to write species accounts for this group. I've only even seen three petrel species (excluding Fulmar) and they are all Hydrobatidae. Thanks jimfbleak 06:42 May 10, 2003 (UTC)

Would that be because your books are essentially N hemisphere ones? Maybe, but I don't think so. I . More likely, I think, that HANZAB is using "fulmar" as a convenient handle for the group, and as an indication that the members are fulmar-like and closely related to one another. The others are Macronectes giganteus and M. halli (Southern Giant-Petrel & Northern Giant-Petrel), Thalassoica antarctica (Antarctic Petrel), Daption capense (Cape Petrel), and Pagodroma nivea (Snow Petrel). That's five. The Southern Fulmar (F. glacialoides) makes six, which leaves one missing - I presume there is also a Northern Fulmar? Yes. Fulmar has it already. How to organise the articles? Leave it up to you. (Tannin wanders off, smiling his evil left-a-right-puzzle-in-Jim's-lap-again grin.) Tannin

Pronunciation[edit]

How do you pronounce "petrel"?

Always thought it was Pet (as in, pet a dog) and Rull (Rhymes with hull.) Pet-Rull. KBurchfiel (talk) 03:57, 1 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For me as a South African English speaker, the second vowel is a schwa and the first syllable is stressed. It is in fact an exact homophone of petrol (aka gasoline). Roger (talk) 18:05, 21 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Biarritz rock petrel[edit]

User:109.1.99.2 added a note about a recently-discovered "Biarritz rock petrel" (Daption costa) I can find no reference to this bird anywhere else and am guessing it is vandalism. --118.238.204.93 (talk) 04:08, 3 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

User:118.238.204.93, good spot. Looks made up by an ISP, so removed. If it's genuine the the ISP can provide refs, but I'm not holding my breath, thanks Jimfbleak - talk to me? 06:00, 3 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]