Puffinus gravis (Great
shearwater)
Grootpylstormvoël [Afrikaans]; Grote pijlstormvogel
[Dutch]; Puffin majeur [French]; Großer sturmtaucher [German];
Pardela-de-bico-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: Procellariidae
Distribution and habitat
Breeds at Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island and to a lesser
extent the Falkland Islands, after which it disperses across the Atlantic and
South-west Indian Oceans, including in southern African waters. Here it is most
common off the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape and southern Namibia, while
more scarce off northern Namibia and KwaZulu-Natal.
Predators and parasites
It has been recorded as prey of
Catharacta antarctica
(Subantarctic skua) at its breeding colonies.
Movements and migrations
Trans-equatorial migrant, as virtually its
entire population stays in southern African waters from April-May
before migrating to the North-west Atlantic Ocean from late May to
early August, at which point it heads south to the South Atlantic
Ocean (including southern African waters). It stays from about
August-November before returning to its breeding colonies.
Food
Mainly eats fish and plankton, doing most of its
foraging by grabbing prey from the water surface or plunge-diving. It often
follows dolphins, toothed whales and other aquatic predators, catching prey that
they drive to the water surface. The following food items have been recorded
in its diet:
- fish
- Lampanyctodes hectoris (lanternfish)
- Maurolicus muelleri (Lightfish)
- Engraulis encrasicolus (Anchovies)
- macrozooplankton
- Squilla armata (mantis shrimps)
- trawler offal
Threats
Not threatened, although occasionally killed on longlines
and by humans at its breeding colonies.
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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