The diving petrels are seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. There are four very similar species all in the family Pelacanoididae and genus Pelacanoides.
These are auk-like small petrels of the southern oceans. The resemblances with that unrelated group are due to convergence, since both dive for fish.
These birds nest in colonies on islands. One white egg is laid in a burrow in turf or soft soil. They are nocturnal at the breeding colonies.
Murphy's (1936: 771) statements are worth quoting: "The diving petrels comprise a homogeneous, monogeneric, strikingly distinct group of Procel- lariiformes, the members of which exhibit few characters that might indicate their relationships with other divisions of that order....
SUMMARY It appears that the Procellariiformes, with the probable exception of the Pelecanoididae, may use feet and legs while flying.
In the most common form of this behavior, the wings are used as gliders, while the bird runs with alternate strokes of the feet along the surface of the water.
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