Peruvian Diving-Petrel

About the Peruvian Diving-Petrel

The Peruvian diving petrel (Pelecanoides garnotii) (local name in Peru: potoyunco) is a small seabird that feeds in offshore waters in the Humboldt Current off Peru and Chile. The Peruvian diving petrel was formally described in 1828 by the French naturalists René Lesson and Prosper Garnot under the binomial name Puffinuria garnotti. In his book Manuel d'ornithologie Lesson quotes the text of a description written by Garnot. The Peruvian diving petrel is now placed in the genus Pelecanoides was originally introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède for the common diving petrel. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

Peruvian diving petrel is 20–24 cm (7.9–9.4 in) in overall length. Like the rest of the diving petrels it is a nondescript bird, with a dark back and pale belly, and blue feet, and can be separated from the rest of its family only by differences in its beak and nostrils.

Unlike the common diving petrel and the South Georgia diving petrel it feeds in cold, offshore, often pelagic water, obtaining small fish larvae and planktonic crustaceans by pursuit diving... Wikipedia →