petrel

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

fork-tailed storm petrel

Bonin petrel: Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge

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Common, or southern, cassowary (Casuarius casuarius).

8 Birds That Can’t Fly

Hungry Pelican waiting to be fed, beak open, Australia

Why Don’t Birds Have Teeth?

Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) in mid-flight.

11 Questions About Birds Answered

Spider monkey swinging in a tree. (primate, jungle animal)

Why Do Animals Have Tails?

animal. Amphibian. Frog. Anura. Ranidae. Frog in grass.

Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World

Discover

US Marines firing at Fallujah, Iraq, during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq War.

Timeline of the 2000s

Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere

Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?

Cathedrale St.Jean in Lyon, France has a 14th-century astronomical clock that shows religious feast days till the year 2019; Perpetual Calendar

Ten Days That Vanished: The Switch to the Gregorian Calendar

Illustration for Demystified "How Dangerous is Quicksand"

How Deadly Is Quicksand?

Figure 13: A Maxim machine gun, belt-fed and water-cooled, operated by German infantrymen, World War I.

7 Deadliest Weapons in History

Happy, smiling, flying pig

7 Everyday English Idioms and Where They Come From

Aurochs. Bos primigenius. Skeleton. Extinct animal. Skeleton of an Aurochs, an extinct wild ox.

6 Animals We Ate Into Extinction

petrel: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

fork-tailed storm petrel

Bonin petrel: Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge

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Topics

storm petrel snow petrel Antarctic petrel pintado petrel diving petrel gadfly petrel fulmar procellariiform albatross

Quiz

Lion (panthera leo)

Deadliest Animals Quiz

vulture. An adult bearded vulture at a raptor recovery center. The Gypaetus barbatus also known as the Lammergeier or Lammergeyer, is a bird of prey and considered an Old World vulture.

Animal Factoids

turkey vulture. vulture. Close-up of a head and beak of a Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).

A Little Bird Told Me

pigeon. pigeon and dove. member of the order Columbiformes, family Columbidae

Ultimate Bird Trivia Quiz

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names

Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)

Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz

Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)

Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz

Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius). Animals, mammals.

Ultimate Animals Quiz

List

White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) at Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. (birds)

15 of the Best Birdsongs (According to Britannica)

Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) in mid-flight.

11 Questions About Birds Answered

Common, or southern, cassowary (Casuarius casuarius).

8 Birds That Can’t Fly

animal. Amphibian. Frog. Anura. Ranidae. Frog in grass.

Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World

Demystified

Black-headed gulls perching on a roof with bird droppings, often seen in flocks around London, England, in winter time. The "black head" develops during the breeding season. (black headed, birds, guano, bird poop)

Do Birds Pee?