South Georgia Diving-Petrel

About the South Georgia Diving-Petrel

The South Georgia diving petrel or Georgian diving-petrel (Pelecanoides georgicus) is one of five very similar small auk-like diving petrels of the southern oceans. It is native to the South Atlantic and islands of the southern Indian Ocean and south-eastern Australia.

The American ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy and the zoologist Francis Harper described the South Georgia diving petrel in 1916. Its specific name, georgicus, is derived from the South Georgia islands where they identified the species. Other common names include puffinure de Géorgie du Sud (French), Breitschnabel Lummensturmvogel (German), and potoyunco de Georgia (Spanish). A unique New Zealand population is now considered a separate species, the Whenua Hou diving petrel.

The South Georgia diving petrel is a small, plump petrel, 180 to 220 mm (7.1–8.7 in) in length and weighing around 90 to 150 g (3.2–5.3 oz). Its plumage is black above and dull white below, and it has a stubby black bill with pale blue edges. The wings have thin white strips. The face and neck can be more brown than black. The legs are blue with posterior black lines down the tarsi. Unless seen very... Wikipedia →