Fregetta tropica (Black-bellied storm-petrel)
Swartpensstormswael [Afrikaans]; Zwartbuikstormvogeltje
[Dutch]; Océanite à ventre noir [French]; Schwarzbauch-meeresläufer [German];
Painho-de-ventre-preto [Portuguese]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Ciconiiformes
> Family: Hydrobatidae
Distribution and habitat
Breeds at Shetland Island, the Orkneys, South Georgia, the
Sandwiches, Bouvet, the Prince Edwards, the Crozets, Kerguelen, Auckland and
Antipodes, dispersing across the southern Ocean to tropical and sub-tropical
areas, including much of southern African waters while largely excluding the
more shallow continental shelf.
Movements and migrations
It is mainly recorded passing through southern
Africa in the short period from late April to early June (moving
north to its non-breeding grounds) and from mid September to mid
November (heading back to its breeding colonies).
Food
It mainly eats fish, squid, small crustaceans, scraps and
offal, doing most of its foraging by dipping its head into the sea to grab prey,
often in association with other seabirds,
seals and
whales.
Threats
Not threatened, although its colony on Marion Island was
deserted in 1990 due to predation by introduced Domestic cats (Falis catus).
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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