Red List of South African Species

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diagnostics

50 cm, 1 kg. Sexes alike. A medium-large grey petrel with contrasting white underparts. Above, including upperwing coverts, silvery grey with a slightly paler neck. Grey cap extends below eye. Flight feathers and primary coverts grey-brown. Underwing and undertail medium grey. Underparts white. Bill creamy or yellowish horn with darker tip. Eyes dark brown. Legs and feet grey (Ryan 2005t).

trophic

The Grey Petrel is a burrow-nesting, colonial, winter breeder (Cooper and Brown 1990). 93% of successful breeding birds return the following season (Chastel 1995). It lays a single egg, which is not replaced if the breeding attempt fails (Warham 1990). A generation length of 25.2 years is provided by BirdLife International (2014bq). The foraging methods of Grey Petrel are poorly known (Ridoux 1994) but it is thought to feed predominantly by surface-seizing. Analysis of stomach contents of chicks shows that the species feeds primarily on squid (70.5%) and fish (27.8%) (Ridoux 1994). The species is attracted to trawlers and other fishing vessels (Ryan and Rose 1989).

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