Africa Wild

019. Southern Fulmar (formerly known as Antarctic Fulmar) Fulmarus glacialoides Silwerstormvoël
Order: Procellariiformes. Family: Procellariidae



Description
A fairly large, bulky petrel, 45–50 cm long with a wingspan of 110–120 cm. Upperparts a pale silver-grey with black primaries and pale panels. The head is white with a pale grey crown. Underparts are white. The legs and feet are pale blue. The bill is pink with a black tip and dark bluish nostrils.

Distribution
Southern Oceans. The Southern Fulmar breeds along the coast of Antarctica and some outlying islands. Like other seabirds, Southern Fulmars are highly nomadic, and outside of the breeding season, this bird moves northwards away from the pack ice and usually stay below 40° South. Some individuals may be found as far north as the coasts of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and South America, up to central Peru and southern Brazil.
In southern African waters it is uncommon to rare in the far south of the region, extending to the area west of the Northern Cape and southern Namibia.

Habitat
Pelagic.

Movements and migrations
Disperses from its breeding colonies in the period from March-April, migrating across the Antarctic Convergence before returning to breed in October.

Diet
Fish, Cephaolopods & carrion. It mainly eats fishery discards and offal, doing most of its foraging by grabbing food from the wake of fishing vessels.

Breeding
Does not breed in the sub-region.
The southern fulmar returns to its breeding grounds from October. Pairs tend to stay together each season, and upon arrival at the nesting site, which is reused from previous years, they engage in unusual courtship displays. The male and female perch side-by-side and call loudly, while waving their heads and preening together. A simple nest, which is no more than a pebble-lined scrape on a ledge or crevice with some shelter from the wind, is subsequently constructed and a single large, white egg is laid, usually in December. Both parents incubate the egg for around 46 to 47 days, taking turns in stints of one to nine days. Southern fulmars brood and guard their chicks after hatching for 14 to 20 days. The young birds fledge from the nest in March, around 50 to 52 days after hatching.

Call
A high pitched cackling.
Listen to Bird Call.

Status
Uncommon winter visitor to the Cape oceanic region, usually offshore. Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.

019. Southern Fulmar (formerly known as Antarctic Fulmar) Fulmarus glacialoides Silwerstormvoël





Links:
Sasol
NEWMAN'S VOELS VAN SA (8ste UIT)
ARKive: http://www.arkive.org/southern-fulmar/f ... cialoides/
Trevor Hardaker Photos

020. Antarctic Petrel Thalassoica antarctica (Antarktiese Stormvoël)
Order: Procellariiformes. Family: Procellariidae



Description
The head is dark. Upperparts dark chocolate brown with distinct white wing bar and lower rump. Underparts white with chocolate brown head, borders to the wings and trailing edge of tail (white tail narrowly tipped with black). Their bill is black and their feet are yellow.
Similar species: Vaguely resembles Pintado Petrel but lacks the chequered back and has a broad white stripe on each wing.

Distribution
Circumpolar in the Southern Ocean North to the Antarctic Convergence. Rarely away from pack ice extent. Breeds at Gough Island and Tristan da Cunha, dispersing through the South Atlantic Ocean to the east coast of South America from 20-60° South, while it is a rare vagrant to southern African waters. Here it is mainly recorded from July-November in the south-western corner of the region, with isolated sightings off central Namibia, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

Habitat
Southern pack ice zone.

Diet
Krill, squid & fish. It mainly eats squid, supplemented with fish, crustaceans and trawler offal and discards, doing most of its foraging by grabbing prey from the water surface.

Breeding
From November onwards. They nest in clefts, crevices and on ledges on sloping rocky cliffs in snow-free areas. Nest is situated directly open on ground, lined with small stones and gravel. One egg is laid and incubated for 45-48 days; the young fledge after a further 42-47 days.

Status
Vagrant to the waters off the Cape.

020. Antarctic Petrel Thalassoica antarctica (Antarktiese Stormvoël)



Links:
NEWMAN'S VOELS VAN SA (8ste UIT)
ARKive
Trevor Hardaker Photos

021. Pintado Petrel (Cape Petrel) Daption capense (Seedwuifstormvoël)
Order: Procellariiformes. Family: Procellariidae



Description
38-40 cm. Upperparts black & white chequered. It has a black head and neck, and a white belly, breast, and its underwing is white with a black border. Its back, and upperwings are black and white speckled, as is its tail which also has a band of black.

Distribution
Circumpolar. Breeds on ice-free areas along the Antarctic coast and on sub-Antarctic islands, usually below 45° South. Migrating north up to about 25° South, as far as Australia, Peru and Angola. The Pintado Petrel is a common nonbreeding visitor which occurs throughout southern African waters, but is most abundant in the south.

Habitat
Oceanic.

Movements and migration
It arrives off the southwestern Cape Province in May and departs mostly October–November, although a few birds linger until January; it is rare during summer. Farther east, it seems to arrive somewhat later with few birds until June off the eastern Cape Province, and mostly from July off KwaZulu-Natal.

Diet
Krill, squid, fish, offal, carrion & refuse from ships. It mainly eats trawler offal and crustaceans, doing most of its foraging behind ships, seizing prey from the water surface or filtering crustaceans by pumping water with its tongue through its serrated bill.

Breeding
They are colonial birds, and nest on cliffs or level ground within a kilometer of the ocean. They tend to have smaller colonies than other Petrels. Their nests are formed with pebbles and are placed under overhanging rock for protection, or in a crevice. In November they lay a single white egg, which is incubated for 45 days by both sexes. Like most other Fulmars, they will defend their nest by spitting stomach oil. Skuas in particular will prey on Cape Petrel eggs and chicks. Upon hatching, the chick is brooded for ten days until it can thermoregulate, after which both parents assist in the feeding. The chicks fledge after 45 more days, around March.

Status
Abundant winter visitor to offshore waters in the region.

021. Pintado Petrel (Cape Petrel) Daption capense (Seedwuifstormvoël)



© Michele Nel

Links:
Species text Sabap1: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/021.pdf
Sabap2: http://sabap2.adu.org.za/spp_summary.ph ... &section=3
ARKive
Oiseaux net - Damier du Cap
More photos by Dewi: https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... t=70#p3636

028. Blue Petrel Halobaena caerulea (Bloustormvoël)
Order: Procellariiformes. Family: Procellariidae



Description
The Blue Petrel is a small petrel with a wing span of about 65 cm. It is the only small petrel with a square white tail-tip. Its dark crown extends to below the eye, down the nape and forms a large dark patch on the side of the neck. The forehead, throat and ear-notch are a contrasting white. The Blue Petrel is blue-grey above and white below (including underwings) with dark partial collar. A conspicuous dark M-shaped band crosses the blue-grey upperwings. The tail is blue-grey with a narrow sub-terminal dark band and conspicuous square white tip. The legs and feet are blue with pink webs.
The Blue Petrel superficially resembles a prion, but has a white – not black – terminal band to the tail.

Distribution
Circumpolar from the Cape South to the Antarctic circle. Breeds from August-February on the Diego Ramirez Islands, other islands off the Cape Horn and sub-Antarctic Islands, after which it disperses across the Southern Ocean, mainly from 40-70° South. It occasionally moves en masse to southern African waters, where it can be found off the coast of South Africa, however this does not happen often. In the most well-known irruption, at least 76 individuals travelled to southern African waters between July-August 1984, mirroring similar occurrences off Australasia and South America.

Habitat
Pelagic.

Movements
The Blue Petrel is present off the coast of South Africa between June and December with a peak in September. It begins to return to breeding colonies late in August and early September, and probably remains north of the Antarctic Polar front in summer.

Diet
It mainly eats crustaceans, fish, salps and squid, doing most of its foraging by grabbing prey from the surface of the water. It often follows ships to catch the food they drop, or alternatively it can follow dolphins and catch the animals they disturb.

Breeding
September onwards. In colonies. Nests in burrows where single egg is incubated for 45-52 days and chicks fledge after 43-60 days.

Status
Vagrant with irruptions in certain years due to storms. (Offshore winter visitor)

028. Blue Petrel Halobaena caerulea (Bloustormvoël)



Links:
Blue Petrel

030. Slender-billed Prion Pachyptila belcheri (Dunbekwalvisvoël)
Order: Procellariiformes. Family: Procellariidae



Description
Length 26 cm. Like all prions, they are blue-grey above and white below with a dark "M" on their back to their wingtips. Smallest & palest of the Prions with narrow black tip to the tail, narrow bill and whiter face. Underparts white, back grey with conspicuous dark W on wings and back. Gray of back wraps partly around neck. White supercillium, darker lines above and below. Their tail is wedge-shaped and grey with a black tip, their thin bill is blue-grey, and their feet are pale blue.
Similar species: As its name suggests, the Slender-billed Prion has the narrowest and least robust bill of all the prions (9.5-12.5 mm wide). It also has a paler face, with a more prominent white stripe above and behind the eye. Very similar to Antarctic Prion but has paler blue-grey upperparts, whiter lores and broader, more conspicuous eyebrow stripe. Antarctic Prion is similar but with darker face markings and generally wider bill (11-15.5 mm wide).
Distinguished with difficulty from Broad-billed Prion but is generally much paler, especially around the head, and lacks the broad grey smudges on the sides of the breast.

Distribution
Breeds at the Falklands and other islands off southern South America, as well as in sub-Antarctic Islands, after which it disperses across the southern oceans all the way down to 65° South. Its status in southern African waters is uncertain, however it is generally scarce, occurring off the coast of the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

Habitat
Oceanic.

Movements and migrations
Little known, although it is thought to breed from about late August to February and March, so it is mainly present in southern African waters from May-October.

Diet
Generally eats larger animals than filter-feeding prions, with a diet dominated by crustaceans, fish and squid. It mainly forages at night, grabbing prey from the surface or plunge-diving up to a depth of about 3-5 metres.

Breeding
They breed as monogamous pairs in colonies. This bird only goes to land to bring up its young. They nest in burrows under rocks or under low plants. They are annual breeders and will lay one egg. Both parents incubate the egg for about 7 weeks and care for the young until they fledge. The young fledge after about 7 more weeks.

Status
Rare winter visitor far offshore, but irruptions ocurr in some years.

030. Slender-billed Prion Pachyptila belcheri (Dunbekwalvisvoël)



Links:
ARKive
Trevor Hardaker Photos