Northern Giant Petrel
21 images Created 18 Dec 2009
The Northern Giant Petrel comes from the Procellariiformes order, which are referred to as tube-nosed seabirds, due to their unique nose structure. All tube-noses have tubular nostrils, and all Procellariidae have the openings on top of the upper portion of the bill.
Largest of the petrel family, Giant Petrels, unlike albatrosses, forage on both land and sea. On land, they kill birds as large as King penguins and scavenge in seal colonies. At sea, they eat fish, squid and crustaceans, scavenging dead whales and seabirds, as well. Their carrion-feeding reputation earned them the nickname 'stinkers' from whalers. Another nickname is the 'sea vulture'.
Petrel refers to St. Peter and from the story of him walking on water, which refers to how they run on top of the water as they are getting airborne. Picture number 05 shows a good example of the Northern Giant Petrel running on water with wings spread out, preparing for takeoff.
Largest of the petrel family, Giant Petrels, unlike albatrosses, forage on both land and sea. On land, they kill birds as large as King penguins and scavenge in seal colonies. At sea, they eat fish, squid and crustaceans, scavenging dead whales and seabirds, as well. Their carrion-feeding reputation earned them the nickname 'stinkers' from whalers. Another nickname is the 'sea vulture'.
Petrel refers to St. Peter and from the story of him walking on water, which refers to how they run on top of the water as they are getting airborne. Picture number 05 shows a good example of the Northern Giant Petrel running on water with wings spread out, preparing for takeoff.
