Birds+-+Stephanie

=** __Introduction__ **=

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Antarctica is the most barren, coldest and windiest place on Earth. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere and is surrounded by the southern ocean. If the Ice Sheets of Antarctica melted...then the sea level would rise 60- 75 metres and the whole world would be underwater.=====

[[image:Antarctica Mappy.jpg width="475" height="361" align="right" caption="Antarctica Map"]]
How many species of birds are found in Antarctica and what are their names? Where is their habitat located within Antarctica? There are not many birds in Antarctica, there are a total of 49 types of birds (PENGUINS NOT INCLUDED) in Antarctica and 15 species of bird who are found in Antarctica. Here a the common ones. 1. Albatrosses 2. Petrels 3. Sheathbills 4. Terns 5. Skuas 6. Comorants 7. Shags 8. Fulmars 9. Prions 10. Pintails

Some live on Ice, some lives on rocks and some live under the rocks.

What do these birds eat?
These birds eat Little Fishes, Krills, Crustaceans and Squids, they capture these creatures by swooping down very quickly when they spot their prey near the water's surface.

How do they survive in a harsh environment?
Birds in Antarctica has warm thick layers of fat to keep them content (happy) and warm.

Do they have any natural predators?
Penguins have Seals as their enemy but not other Antarctic Birds.

**__8 birds I am going to write about:__**

 * 1) **__Cape Petrels__**
 * 2) **__Blue Petrels__**
 * 3) **__Long Tailed Skuas__**
 * 4) **__Wilson's Storm Petrels__**
 * 5) **__Fairy Prions__**
 * 6) **__Cormorants__**
 * 7) **__Albatrosses__**

Did you know that all Antarctic birds starts WALKING then RUNNING on WATER to take-off, and they do almost the same in landing too like a plane?
= **__Cape Petrels__** =

The Cape Petrel is also know as the Cape Pigeon or the Pintado Petrel, it is a common seabird of the Southern Ocean from the family Procellariidae (pronounced as Pros-sell-ar-ree-day).
=__**Appearance:**__= ==The Cape Petrel is a very unique kind of bird in Antarctica because it has a black head and neck, a white part underneath, and its underwing is white with a black back. Its back and upperwings are black and white speckled and the tail is black. Their wings is 850mm, so its quite a big bird.==

=__**Diet:**__=

=__**Habitat:**__=

Its habitat is on ice near water and breeds on steep rocky slopes and cliffs. They are known to follow ships for food when they cannot find any marine creatures to eat.
=__**More Info**__=

They don't have a quite long life like humans because they can only live up to 15 - 20 years.
==The Cape Petrel is very marine and pelagic,especially in Winter, it mostly occurs during winter and egg is white. They breed in between November to early December, they do not start breeding until they are at least 5 years old. They have cool patterns that shows in the sun. They are estimated over 2 million in the Artic and the Antarctic and is extremely common but unique.==

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=__Video of Antarctic Cape Petrel feeding on Antarctic shore.__=

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= __Blue Petrels__ =

=__**Appearance**__= ==The Blue Petrel **is** not naturally blue, it is greyish blue but also black at the top of the the wings, their feathers is white underneath, and a hint of grey on the upper parts. This small bird is from the family of procellardae family, like all the other Antarctic birds it runs on water to take-off and almost the same in landing parts.==

=__**Diet:**__=

They feed on Krills, crustaceans, small fishes and squids, they can dive up to at 7m.
=__**Habitat:**__=

They habitat is on dry land, rocks and near the ocean.
=**__Breeding:__**=

They breed on nest on cliffs and dry land.
=**__More info:__**= ==The Blue Petrel is Least Concern so it is not threatened or extinct. They are estimated over 3,000,000. They are not only found in Antarctica, they are found in most Country like at the bottom of Australia in SA. Its wingspan is about 62-73cm, and length is 26-31cm. The weight is 151-249g. It is a small birds that likes to fly out the ocean.==

=**__Long-tailed Skua__**=

The Long-tailed Skua or the Long-tailed Jaeger is the smallest ( 37- 58cm) out of the skua family.
=**__Appearance:__**=

=**__Diet:__**=

=**__Habitat and Breeding:__**=

**The Long-tailed Skua prefers living in dry land near the rocks cause they usually breed there.**
= = =**__More Info:__**=

They are first sighted in the South Pole. It is said that this bird is the most slender and delicate, simply fragile bird out of the Skua family. It is mostly seen following ships for food.




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=**__Wilson's Storm Petrel__**=

=__**Weight and Height:**__= =It is measured 16cm up to 18.5cm and weight is 34-45g.=

=**__Appearance__:**= =The Wilson's Storm Petrel is a long tube-like birds with a sooty-brown tail with black covered to cover their bodies and almost at the end there is a blast of white part.=

=**__Habitat:__**= =**It lives on dry land and on rocks.**= =**__Diet:__**= =**It feeds on fishes, squids and crustaceans.**=

=__**More Info**__= =**The Storm Petrel have something that other Antarctic Birds don't have, it flies longer than**= =**other Antarctic Birds. It is on the least concern section, and has a habit of tipping one of its**= =**wing in the water. It has a direct gliding flight then other birds because other Antarctic birds patter**= =**their feet when they land to pick planktonic things out of the sea while the Wilson's Petrel tip**= =**its wings in the sea.**=

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= __**Fairy Prions**__ =

=__**Appearance:**__= ==**Some people think that this small Fairy Prion bird looks like a fairy, but they are wrong, these birds is greyish blue most similar bird to the Blue Petrel and it has a white underpart tipped with black at the end of its tail.** **It is also known as the Dove Fairy Prion because of its Dove-like appearance.**==

=__**Diet:**__=

**The diet of this sweet little bird is crustaceans, krills, tiny fishes and small squids.**
=**__Breeding:__**= ==Outside of **the breeding seasons, the fairy Prion is often found in deep oceans feeding each other. It is found breeding on dry land and cliffs. The fairy Prion is found through****out oceans, and they are are also spotted in coastal areas in the Southern Hemisphere.**==

=__**More Info:**__= =**It is the smallest Prion out of the Procellariidae Family. They are often seen out in the Winter seasons**= =**in Antarctica. It can be also described as a pearl grey bird.**=

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= = = = = = = = =__**Cormorants**__=

=**__APPEARANCE__**=

=__**DIET AND AFTER DIVING:**__= ==Unlike other Antarctic birds these birds doesn't just feed in the ocean it also feeds in estuaries and on freshwater, lakes and rivers. After the cormorants dive, they sit with their wings outstretched to dry their feathers.== = = =**__HABITAT:__**=

=__**More Info:**__=

**'Each cormorants has different names and weigh for example the**
==

**Great Cormorant's weight is 1.5kg to 5.3kg. After the Cormorants breed they find food for their kids like other Antarctic Birds. Some Cormorants often carry their chicks out the water.**
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=__**Albatrosses**__=

=__**Appearance:**__=

**The Albatross is the most well knowned species in Antarctica. Their appearance is that they have dark brown wings, white bodies, the beak is sometimes brownish-pink and the eyes are Black.**
= = =**__Diet:__**=

**They feed on Celaphalopod, small fish and crustaceans. It lives on dry land near water so they can easily spot their prey.**
=**__More Info (Habitat, breeding, etc):__**=

**The Albatross does an unusual dance after they breed.**
==**The Albatrosses are excellent birdwatchers and can see a few more farther then us. Albatrosses are very rarely seen because they don't often go outside, they'd rather stay hidden behind rocks and in dry land because that is where they usually breed, They breed of cliffs and dry land. Their wings is up to 12 feet. They live longer then other Antarctic birds, they can live over 50 years.**==

**Did you know that some Albatross are heavily hunted for their feathers because it can also be used as to create a woman's hat. The wandering Albatross has the biggest wings in the world.**
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Videos added by Stephanie: Albatross Dance and Albatross Take-off.

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= = = = = = = = = = = = =__//**Last**// //**Antarctic Bird Video (ABOVE).**//__=

=__**Websites used:**__= http://www.antarcticconnection.com/shopcontent.asp?type=wildlife-birds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Antarctica http://www.antarcticabound.com/antarctic-birds.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Petrel http://www.arkive.org/cape-petrel/daption-capense/ http://www.lordhoweislandbirds.com/index.php/sea-birds/cape-petrel http://worldbirdinfo.net/Pages/BirdProfileView.aspx?BirdID=31378&Source=%2FPages%2FBirdsSearch.aspx%3FBirdField%3D8%26BirdSearch%3DPROCELLARIIDAE%253AShearwaters%252CPetrels%252CFulmars http://www.lastocean.org/Ross-Sea/Antarctic-wildlife-animals-Adelie-penguin-Emperor-penguin-__I.2431 http://www.helium.com/items/2194372-bird-facts-cape-petrel http://www.polarconservation.org/polar-library/antarctic-animals/birds/petrels-and-prions/cape-petrel/ http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1059 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Petrel http://www.polarconservation.org/polar-library/antarctic-animals/birds/petrels-and-prions/blue-petrel/ http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id= [] http://www.arkive.org/long-tailed-jaeger/stercorarius-longicaudus/image-G97416.html = http://carolinabirds.org/HTML/AU_Gull_Skua.htm = = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_Prion = []

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