Giant petrels
Southern Giant Petrel chick
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae Genus: Macronectes Richmond, 1905 Species: M. giganteus M. halli
Binomial name
Macronectes giganteus (Gmelin, 1789)
Macronectes halli (Mathews, 1912)

Giant petrel at South Georgia Island

The giant petrels are two large seabirds from the genus Macronectes. Long considered to be conspecific (they were not established as separate species until 1966), the two species, the Southern Giant Petrel (M. giganteus) and Northern Giant Petrel (M. halli) are the largest members of the petrel family, Procellariidae, and considered, with the two fulmars to form a distinct sub-group within the petrels. Both species are restricted to the southern hemisphere, and though the ranges overlap greatly, notably in South Georgia, the Southern Giant Petrel nests further south, with colonies on Antarctica. Giant petrels are aggressive predators and scavengers, which has led to the other common name they were known as, the Stinker. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1201x899, 497 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Petrel Giant petrel ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... “Animalia” redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... Families Procellariidae Diomedeidae Hydrobatidae Pelecanoididae Procellariiformes (from the Latin procella, a storm) is an order of birds formerly called Tubinares and still called tubenoses in English. ... Genera Several, List of Procellariidae. ... Charles Wallace Richmond (1868 - 1932) was an American Nicaragua he joined the staff of the United States National Museum in Washington DC. In 1894 he was appointed Assistant Curator of Birds, later becoming Curator. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. ... Johann Friedrich Gmelin (August 8, 1748 - November 1, 1804) was a German naturalist and botanist. ... Gregory Macalister Mathews (September 10, 1876 - March 27, 1949) was an Australian ornithologist. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (1944 × 1296 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (1944 × 1296 pixel, file size: 2. ... South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, also claimed by Argentina. ... The Sooty Tern is highly aerial and marine and will spend years flying at sea without returning to land. ... For other uses of the word, please see Genus (disambiguation). ... Conspecificity is a concept in biology. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... The petrels are seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. ... In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is 1) a rank or 2) a taxon in that rank. ... Species (Linnaeus, 1761) (A. Smith, 1840) For other uses, see Fulmar (disambiguation). ... South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, also claimed by Argentina. ... Colonial seabirds in Hawaii. ... This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ... For a person who scavenges, see Waste picker. ...

Giant petrels earn their name, being 86 cm (34 in) long and weighing 4.5 kg (10 lbs). They superficially resemble the albatross, and are the only procellarids with a comparable wingspan, around 195 cm (77 in). They can be separated from the albatrosses by their bill; the two tube nostrils are joined together on the top of the bill, unlike on albatross where they are separated and on the side of the bill. They are also much darker and more mottled brown (except for the white morph Southern, which are whiter than any albatross) and have a more hunch-backed look. Genera Diomedea Thalassarche Phoebastria Phoebetria Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). ...

They are harder to tell from each other, possessing similar long pale orange bills and uniform mottled grey plumage (except for 15% of Southern Petrels, which are almost completely white). The billtip of halli is reddish-pink and that of giganteus is pale green, appearing slightly darker and lighter than the rest of the bill, respectively. Also, the underside of older halli is paler and more uniform than giganteus, the latter showing a contrast between paler head and neck and darker belly. Classic examples of Northern Giant are identifiable at some range. Unfortunately young birds of both species are all dark and very hard to distinguish unless bill tip colour can be seen. Some relatively young Northern Giant Petrels can appear to be paler on the head suggesting Southern Giant and thus this species is harder to confirm. Closeup on a single white feather A feather is one of the epidermal growths that forms the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on a bird. ...

Giant petrels are highly opportunistic feeders, uniquely for procellarids they will feed on land as well as at sea, in fact they find most of their food near the coast. On land they feed on carrion, particularly that of seals and penguins. With that ability they are also the only petrel capable of walking well, they also display their dominance over carcasses with a "sealmaster posture": the head and the wings are held outstretched, the head pointing at the opponent and the wingtips pointing slightly back; the tail is raised to a vertical position. They are also capable of killing other seabirds, even those as large as an albatross, which they kill either by battering them to death (most commonly chicks of other species during the breeding season) or drowning. At sea they feed on krill, squid and fish, often attending fishing fleets in the hope of picking up offal. An American Black Vulture feeding on squirrel carrion For other uses, see Carrion (disambiguation). ... Families Odobenidae Otariidae Phocidae Pinnipeds (fin-feet, lit. ... Modern genera Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus For prehistoric genera, see Systematics Some penguins are curious. ... Families Euphausiidae Euphausia Dana, 1852 Meganyctiphanes Holt and W. M. Tattersall, 1905 Nematobrachion Calman, 1905 Nematoscelis G. O. Sars, 1883 Nyctiphanes G. O. Sars, 1883 Pseudeuphausia Hansen, 1910 Stylocheiron G. O. Sars, 1883 Tessarabrachion Hansen, 1911 Thysanoessa Brandt, 1851 Thysanopoda Latreille, 1831 Bentheuphausiidae Bentheuphausia amblyops Krill are shrimp-like marine... SQUIDs, or superconducting quantum interference devices, are used to measure extremely small magnetic fields; they are one of the most sensitive magnetometers known, with noise levels as low as 3 fT·Hz−½. While a typical fridge magnet is ~0. ... A fishing fleet is an aggregate of commercial fishing vessels. ... Scrapple sandwich at the Delaware state fair Offal is the entrails and internal organs of a butchered animal. ...

Southern Giant Petrel flying over ice sheet

The Southern Giant Petrel is more likely to form loose colonies than the Northern, both species laying a single egg in a rough nest built up off the ground (about 50cm high). The egg is incubated for about 60 days, once hatched the chick is brooded for 3 weeks. Chicks fledge after about 4 months, but do not achieve sexual maturity for another 6-7 years after fledging. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2304x1728, 1226 KB) Summary Southern Giant Petrel Photograph by: Henry Malmgren National Science Foundation [1] Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2304x1728, 1226 KB) Summary Southern Giant Petrel Photograph by: Henry Malmgren National Science Foundation [1] Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The word incubate in the context of birds refers to the development of the chick (embryo) within the egg and the constant temperature required for the development of it over a specific period. ... Fledge is the stage in a young birds life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight. ...

References

• Brooke, M. (2004). Albatrosses And Petrels Across The World: Procellariidae. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK ISBN 0-19-850125-0
• del Hoyo, Josep, Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (1992). Handbook of Birds of the World Vol 1. Barcelona:Lynx Edicions, ISBN 84-87334-10-5