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Common Diving-Petrel
(Pelecanoides urinatrix)
: "Smaller Diving-Petrel", "Diving-Petrel"
Size: 20-25 cm; wing span ca. 40 cm
Weight: 125-165 g
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Common Diving-Petrels are small seabirds with a mostly white front
and a dark-grey back.
The upperparts, from frons to tail, are dark-grey, with two faint,
narrow white 'scap' lines along the bases of the wings. The sides
of the head, the throat and chest are mid-grey, while the flanks
are scalloped grey. Also the undersides of the wings are light to
mid-grey. The rest of the underparts is white.
The short, tubby bill is dark-grey; the irises are black, while
legs and feet are bluish-grey.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Common
Diving-Petrel at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Common Diving-Petrel is available
HERE
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There are six accepted races of Common Diving-Petrels. Their
overall distribution is circumpolar, spending most of their
time on the open sea
of the Southern Ocean and around the southern parts of the continents on
the southern hemisphere, where they are found most
commonly around New Zealand, far southern South America and
south-eastern Australia. They do NOT reach the coastline of
South-Africa.
For details of the distribution of the various races see a field guide
or Wikipedia
.
In Australia Common Diving-Petrels can reach
coastal waters
and the coastline of VIC and TAS, including a range of offshore
islands.
Occasionally they are also found along the coastline of NSW.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
Race "urinatrix"
M. Eaton found a Common Diving-Petrel, nominate race
"urinatrix",
on a pelagic off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, in September 2021.
All sighting and photographic information presented on this page
has been kindly contributed by M. Eaton.
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Photos |
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Race "urinatrix"
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ADULT |
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Distant lateral view of a Common Diving-Petrel
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]
Distant lateral view of a Common Diving-Petrel riding a wave crest
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, September 2021]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
