Antarctic Giant Petrel Low Level Over Fournier Bay
by Jeff at JSJ Photography
Title
Antarctic Giant Petrel Low Level Over Fournier Bay
Artist
Jeff at JSJ Photography
Medium
Photograph - Photographs
Description
A Southern Giant Petrel (or Antarctica Giant Petrel) with the scientific name "macronectes giganteus" glides at low level showing its reflection over a totally calm Fournier Bay, Anvers Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica on the morning of 5 February 2020.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Fournier Bay (64°31'S 63°6'W) is a bay 8 nautical miles (15 km) long and 3 nautical miles (6 km) wide, indenting the northeast coast of Anvers Island immediately west of Briggs Peninsula and south of Dralfa Point, in the Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica. Its head is fed by Rhesus, Thamyris, Kleptuza and Altimir Glaciers.
The bay was probably first seen by a German expedition, 1873–74, under Eduard Dallmann. It was charted by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05, under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, and named by him for Vice Admiral Ernest Fournier of the French Navy.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus), Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot
Macronectes giganteus
Giant petrels form a genus, Macronectes, from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two species. They are the largest birds of this family. Both species are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, and though their distributions overlap significantly, with both species breeding on the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island, and South Georgia, many southern giant petrels nest farther south, with colonies as far south as Antarctica. Giant petrels are extremely aggressive predators and scavengers, inspiring another common name, the stinker. South Sea whalers used to call them gluttons.
Distribution from Antarctica to the subtropics of Chile, Africa, and Australia.
The southern giant petrel is slightly larger than the northern giant petrel, at 3 to 8 kg (6.6–17.6 lb), 180 to 210 cm (71–83 in) across the wings, and 86 to 100 cm (34–39 in) of body length. The northern giant petrel is 3 to 5 kg (6.6–11.0 lb), 150 to 210 cm (59–83 in) across the wings and 80 to 95 cm (31–37 in) of body length. They superficially resemble the albatross, and are the only procellarids that can equal them in size. 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. Petrels are also the only members of the family Procellariidae to have strong legs to walk on land. 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. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. The petrels have a hooked bill called the maxillary unguis which can hold slippery prey. They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides which is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defence against predators and as a protein-rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights. Petrals have a salt gland situated above the nasal passage that helps to desalinate their bodies by excreting a high saline solution from their noses.
The two species are difficult to tell from each other, possessing similar long, pale, orange bills and uniform, mottled grey plumage (except for around 15% of southern petrels, which are almost completely white). The billtip of M. halli is reddish-pink and that of M. giganteus is pale green, appearing slightly darker and lighter than the rest of the bill, respectively. The underside of older M. halli birds is paler and more uniform than M. giganteus, the latter showing a contrast between paler head and neck and darker belly. Additionally, adults of M. halli typically appear pale-eyed, while adults of M. giganteus of the normal morph typically appear dark-eyed (occasionally flecked paler). Classic examples of northern giant are identifiable at some range. 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, thus this species is harder to confirm.
Uploaded
May 11th, 2020
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