Creature Feature #582: Petrel

The name Petrel is given to three different Families of Procellariiformes seabirds. They are characterised by their tubular nasal passage, which is used for locating the patchily distributed prey. They also drink sewater, and exude the salt via a special gland at the base of the bill, dripping a saline solution from their nostrils. Marine foragers, the majority of their life is spent gliding above the ocean, and snatching fish or squid from near the surface or diving for it. This fellow, the Cape Petrel, is a common Antarctic and sub-Antarctic species.

Creature Feature #578: Pelican

The Pelican are a very distinctive Genus water bird, containing eight extant species and a number of extinct and prehistoric ones. He is characterised by his bill, which is long and hooked, equipped with ahuge gular pouch. The bill is used to scoop fish out of the water, and is then held aloof while the water drains out. This can take up to a minute. Gulls have been observed perching on a Pelican's head and pecking at it, to distract it, before seizing food from the open bill. However, Pelicans have been known to capture and consume smaller birds - although this is rare. Small fish are swallowed directly, larger ones are caught between the tips of the bill, flipped in the air and swallowed head-first.

This is an Australian Pelican.

Creature Feature #559: Oystercatcher

Just as Oxpeckers do not only peck oxen (given oxen is a term given to a neutered bull cattle), Oystercatchers do not feed exclusively on oysters.

The Oystercatchers are a Family of very similar wading birds with a cosmopolitan distribution. This fellow is a European Oystercatcher, characterised by the white chin-stripe. All species are either piebald or pure black (in various shades). With their stocky body and long bill, the Oystercatcher stalks the coastal regions, and open pastures, foraging predominantly on invertebrates such as crabs, annelids and insect larvae. They are also one of the few animals capable of opening oysters - hence the name. The bill shape varies between (and within) species, with some having finer tipped bills for digging up worms, and broader tipped bills for cracking open shellfish. 

And that, my friends, is the final O animal. Tomorrow we begin the Ps.