Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE ALBATROSSES AND PETRELS

Petrel Behaviour

The eggs of many species are entirely unmarked, while those of others are more or less spotted with rufous on the large end. They usually sit closely when incubating the egg and are removed from it or their burrow with difficulty, not to say danger. Of this peculiarity in Rodgers's Fulmar of the Pribilof Islands, Elliott says: “It is of all the water fowl the most devoted to its charge, for it will not be scared from the egg by any demonstration that may be made in the way of throwing or yelling, and it will even die as it sits rather than take flight, as I have frequently witnessed.”Kidder also graphically describes the actions of various burrowing species as observed by him on Kerguelen Island.

The dog belonging to their party habitually dug them out of their holes for food, and they”were generally brought to the surface hanging to his ear.”Petrels are mainly nocturnal in their habits, at least during the nesting season, and their presence may be entirely unsuspected in the daytime. To quote again from Kidder regarding the Whale-bird (Prion desolatus): “Upon first landing, the hillsides, apparently deserted during the day, became at night perfectly alive with these birds, flying irregularly about the rocks and hummocks of Azorella, and filling the air with their calls.”Their crepuscular habits, combined with the fact that they usually seek isolated places for nesting, make their study difficult, and we are still in ignorance of the nests and eggs of several species.

The food of the Petrels is also more or less in doubt. The stomachs of those examined appear to contain oil, but whether this is the usual food is not known, and it seems more than probable that the minute animals so abundant in tropical waters supply a considerable share.

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