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Snow petrel
The snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) is the only member of the genus Pagodroma. It is one of only three birds that have been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, which has the most southerly breeding sites of any bird, inland in Antarctica.
The snow petrel was described in 1777 by the German naturalist Georg Forster in his book A Voyage Round the World. He had accompanied James Cook on Cook's second voyage to the Pacific.
We particularly observed a petrel, about the size of a pigeon, entirely white, with a black bill and blueish feet; it constantly appeared about the icy masses, and may be looked upon as a sure fore-runner of ice.
Forster placed the snow petrel in the genus Procellaria that had been erected for the petrels by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 and coined the binomial name Procellaria nivea. The snow petrel is now the only species placed in the genus Pagodroma that was introduced for the snow petrel in 1856 by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek pagos meaning "frost" or "sea-ice" with dromos meaning "racer" or "runner". The specific epithet is from the Latin niveus meaning "snow-white". The word "petrel" is derived from Peter the Apostle and the story of his walking on water. This is in reference to the petrel's habit of appearing to run on the water to take off.
Snow petrels vary significantly in size with two different forms, a larger and a smaller. The two forms hybridise extensively and this has led to uncertainty about the taxonomic status and the precise geographic distribution of the different types. In 1857 Bonaparte in his Conspectus Generum Avium listed subspecies major and minor but as he provided no further information, these names are not recognised and are considered as nomen nudum. The German ornithologist Hermann Schlegel in 1863 provided descriptions for the subspecies minor and major but erroneously believed that Forster's original description applied to the larger form. In 1912 Gregory Mathews, in the second volume of his Birds of Australia, treated the larger form as a separate species and introduced the binomial name Pagodroma confusa. The two forms are now usually treated as subspecies and Schlege is acknowledged as the authority for the larger subspecies.
The snow petrel is a member of the family Procellariidae, and the order Procellariiformes. They all share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into seven to nine horny plates. They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defense against predators (principally skuas) and as an energy-rich food source for the chicks and for the adults during their long flights. Finally, they also have a salt gland situated above the nasal passage which helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe. It excretes a high saline solution from their nostrils.
Two subspecies are recognised:
The snow petrel is a small, pure white fulmarine petrel with coal-black eyes, a small black bill and bluish gray feet. Body length is 30–40 cm (12–16 in) and the wingspan is 75–95 cm (30–37 in). Flight is erratic with frequent changes of direction.
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Snow petrel
The snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea) is the only member of the genus Pagodroma. It is one of only three birds that have been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, which has the most southerly breeding sites of any bird, inland in Antarctica.
The snow petrel was described in 1777 by the German naturalist Georg Forster in his book A Voyage Round the World. He had accompanied James Cook on Cook's second voyage to the Pacific.
We particularly observed a petrel, about the size of a pigeon, entirely white, with a black bill and blueish feet; it constantly appeared about the icy masses, and may be looked upon as a sure fore-runner of ice.
Forster placed the snow petrel in the genus Procellaria that had been erected for the petrels by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 and coined the binomial name Procellaria nivea. The snow petrel is now the only species placed in the genus Pagodroma that was introduced for the snow petrel in 1856 by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek pagos meaning "frost" or "sea-ice" with dromos meaning "racer" or "runner". The specific epithet is from the Latin niveus meaning "snow-white". The word "petrel" is derived from Peter the Apostle and the story of his walking on water. This is in reference to the petrel's habit of appearing to run on the water to take off.
Snow petrels vary significantly in size with two different forms, a larger and a smaller. The two forms hybridise extensively and this has led to uncertainty about the taxonomic status and the precise geographic distribution of the different types. In 1857 Bonaparte in his Conspectus Generum Avium listed subspecies major and minor but as he provided no further information, these names are not recognised and are considered as nomen nudum. The German ornithologist Hermann Schlegel in 1863 provided descriptions for the subspecies minor and major but erroneously believed that Forster's original description applied to the larger form. In 1912 Gregory Mathews, in the second volume of his Birds of Australia, treated the larger form as a separate species and introduced the binomial name Pagodroma confusa. The two forms are now usually treated as subspecies and Schlege is acknowledged as the authority for the larger subspecies.
The snow petrel is a member of the family Procellariidae, and the order Procellariiformes. They all share certain identifying features. First, they have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into seven to nine horny plates. They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defense against predators (principally skuas) and as an energy-rich food source for the chicks and for the adults during their long flights. Finally, they also have a salt gland situated above the nasal passage which helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe. It excretes a high saline solution from their nostrils.
Two subspecies are recognised:
The snow petrel is a small, pure white fulmarine petrel with coal-black eyes, a small black bill and bluish gray feet. Body length is 30–40 cm (12–16 in) and the wingspan is 75–95 cm (30–37 in). Flight is erratic with frequent changes of direction.