the.com/petrel
the seabird that walks on water and lives almost entirely on the open ocean
means A small to medium-sized seabird of the open ocean, related to albatrosses and shearwaters, known for fluttering low over the waves and seeming to patter across the water's surface.
from The name is usually traced to St. Peter, who in the Gospel story stepped out onto the sea to walk toward Jesus — the bird's habit of skimming and pattering across the waves with dangling feet looked like the same miracle in miniature. 'Petrel' is thought to be a diminutive of Peter, perhaps via the older form 'pitteral.' It's a charming and widely repeated link, though the exact early history of the word is a little hazy.
- name origin
- named for Saint Peter walking on waves
- stomach oil
- vomits foul oil to defend against predators
- tube nose
- nostrils filter and excrete excess seasalt
- landfall
- some species only touch land to breed
- longevity
- smallest can outlive an albatross, decades long
wandering albatross — often confused with petrels; the southern giant petrel is a separate species found in antarctic waters
storm petrel — smallest petrel species, weighs only 25-40 grams, breeds on rocky islands across atlantic and mediterranean
hawaiian petrel — endangered endemic species nesting only on haleakalā volcano, maui, at 7,000+ feet elevation