Peruvian Diving Petrel
Encyclopedia
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
. Like the rest of the diving petrel
s 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 plankton
ic crustacean
s by pursuit diving
. The main part of his food is made up by plankton organisms (85.3 - 91.1%). The remaining percentage of the Peruvian Diving Petrels food is fish, mainly anchovies. Peruvian Diving Petrels can dive up to 83 meters deep but the average depth was recorded at around 30 meters. It was long thought, that the Peruvian Diving Petrel is rather bad in flying. However, great numbers of birds have been observed fishing regularly in the area between Asia Island and Pachacamac Island at a distance of 150-200 kilometers north of their Peruvian breeding grounds.
The Peruvian Diving Petrel has become locally extinct on many of its former colonies and nests nowadays only on a few offshore islands. A total population of 12 216 breeding pairs was estimated for San Gallán and La Vieja Islands in Peru, with some small additional breeding colonies reported for Corcovado Island in Peru, as well as Pan de Azucar Island, Choros islands, Grande and Pajaros islands in Chile. They breed year round, laying a single egg in a burrow dug into guano
.
Peruvian Diving Petrels are considered highly endangered
. They formerly numbered in the millions, but the pressures of guano extraction (which destroyed nests, eggs and chicks), being directly taken for food by guano workers and introduced species
(particularly fox
es and feral cat
s) have caused the number to crash. Although all of the Peruvian breeding sites are located in protected areas (National Reserve of Paracas and National Reserve Guano islands) some guano extraction still continues and the reserves are ineffectively policed.
The binomial of this species commemorates the French naturalist Prosper Garnot
.
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
that feeds in offshore waters in the Humboldt Current
Humboldt Current
The Humboldt Current , also known as the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north-westward along the west coast of South America from the southern tip of Chile to northern Peru. It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and can extend...
off Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. Like the rest of the diving petrel
Diving petrel
The diving petrels are seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. There are four very similar species all in the family Pelecanoididae and genus Pelecanoides , distinguished only by small differences in the coloration of their plumage and their bill construction.Diving petrels are auk-like small...
s 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
Common Diving Petrel
The Common Diving Petrel , also known as the Smaller Diving-Petrel or simply the Diving-Petrel, is a diving-petrel, one of four very similar auk-like small petrels of the southern oceans...
and the South Georgia Diving Petrel it feeds in cold, offshore, often pelagic water, obtaining small fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
larvae and plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
ic crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s by pursuit diving
Underwater diving
Underwater diving is the practice of going underwater, either with breathing apparatus or by breath-holding .Recreational diving is a popular activity...
. The main part of his food is made up by plankton organisms (85.3 - 91.1%). The remaining percentage of the Peruvian Diving Petrels food is fish, mainly anchovies. Peruvian Diving Petrels can dive up to 83 meters deep but the average depth was recorded at around 30 meters. It was long thought, that the Peruvian Diving Petrel is rather bad in flying. However, great numbers of birds have been observed fishing regularly in the area between Asia Island and Pachacamac Island at a distance of 150-200 kilometers north of their Peruvian breeding grounds.
The Peruvian Diving Petrel has become locally extinct on many of its former colonies and nests nowadays only on a few offshore islands. A total population of 12 216 breeding pairs was estimated for San Gallán and La Vieja Islands in Peru, with some small additional breeding colonies reported for Corcovado Island in Peru, as well as Pan de Azucar Island, Choros islands, Grande and Pajaros islands in Chile. They breed year round, laying a single egg in a burrow dug into guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
.
Peruvian Diving Petrels are considered highly endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
. They formerly numbered in the millions, but the pressures of guano extraction (which destroyed nests, eggs and chicks), being directly taken for food by guano workers and introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
(particularly fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
es and feral cat
Feral cat
A feral cat is a descendant of a domesticated cat that has returned to the wild. It is distinguished from a stray cat, which is a pet cat that has been lost or abandoned, while feral cats are born in the wild; the offspring of a stray cat can be considered feral if born in the wild.In many parts of...
s) have caused the number to crash. Although all of the Peruvian breeding sites are located in protected areas (National Reserve of Paracas and National Reserve Guano islands) some guano extraction still continues and the reserves are ineffectively policed.
The binomial of this species commemorates the French naturalist Prosper Garnot
Prosper Garnot
Prosper Garnot was a French surgeon and naturalist.Garnot was born at Brest. He was an assistant surgeon under Louis Isidore Duperrey on La Coquille during its circumnavigation of the globe . Along with Rene Primevere Lesson he collected numerous natural history specimens in South America and the...
.