Cape Petrel (Daption capense) Bird Profile

Cape petrel, scientific name, Daption capense, also known as Cape Pigeon, Pintado Petrel, or Cape Fulmer, a common sea bird in the South Ocean from the Procellariidae family. It is the only member of the species of adaption, and is associated with fulmar petrels and giant petrels. They are extremely common marine birds with an estimated population of 20 million.

Cape Petrel Description

Cape Petrel is a unique looking petrel. It is white with a black head and neck, and a black belly, breast, and a black border on its underwear. It’s back and upperparts are black and white, with a band of black like its tail. When fully grown, their wings are 86 cm (34 inches) long and are 39 cm (15 inches) long.

Behavior

Diet

Cape Petrels’ diet is 5% crustacean, as well as fish and squid. The krill is their favorite crustacean, which they obtain by grabbing surfaces and sinking to the floor and trimming them. They are also noted for following ships and eating edible waste and carcasses thrown overboard. They are aggressive and competitive even when spraying and will sprinkle their stomach oils on their own species.

Breeding

They are home to colonial birds and cliffs or about a kilometer to sea level. They have smaller colonies than other petrels. Their nests are made of gravel and are placed under an overhanging stone for protection or in a cage.

In November they lay a clean white egg, which is incubated for 45 days by both sexes. The egg usually measures 53 by 38 millimeters (2.1 in by 1.5 in) measures like most other fullers.

Specifics will be hunting Cape Petrel eggs and babies. After hatching, the brood is broiled for ten days until it is thermoregulated, after which both parents assist in feeding. The kids swear after 45 more days around March.

Scope and habitat

During the breeding season, Cape Petrels feed around the Antarctica shelf, and in winter they extend further north, to the islands of Angola and the Galapagos.

They breed in many islands and sub-continental islands of Antarctica, some extending to the Auckland Islands, Chatham Islands, Campbell Island. Their main breeding areas were in the Inter-Atlantic Peninsula, South Georgia, the Balleny Islands, the Kerogelin Islands, and the islands of the Scotia Sea.

Conservation

Cape Petrel has 146,000,000 km2 (56,370,915 square miles) and according to a 2009 estimate, the number of adult birds is 2 million. As a result, the IUCN identifies them as the least of the concerns.