Giant petrel
| Giant petrel | |
|---|---|
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|
| Southern giant petrel juvenile | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Procellariidae |
| Genus: |
Macronectes Richmond, 1905 |
| Species | |
|
Macronectes giganteus |
|
Macronectes giganteus
Southern giant petrel
Macronectes halli
Northern giant petrel
Giant petrels form a genus, Macronectes, from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two species. They are the largest birds of this family. Both species are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, and though their distributions overlap significantly, with both species breeding on the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island and South Georgia, many southern giant petrels nest further south, with colonies as far south as Antarctica. Giant petrels are aggressive predators and scavengers, inspiring another common name, the stinker. South Sea whalers used to call them gluttons.
The giant petrels are two large seabirds from the genus Macronectes. Long considered to be conspecific (they were not established as separate species until 1966), the two species, the southern giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus, and northern giant petrel, Macronectes halli, are considered with the two fulmars, Fulmarus, to form a distinct subgroup within Procellariidae, and including the Antarctic petrel, Cape petrel, and the snow petrel, they form a separate group from the rest of the family.
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Wikipedia