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Australian Wildlife

  Cape Petrel (Daption capense)





Cape Petrel | Daption capense photo
Cape Petrel off Kaikoura, New Zealand

Image by Arthur Chapman - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Cape Petrel | Daption capense photo
Cape Petrel

Image by Matthieu Weber - License: Public Domain.    (view image details)

Cape Petrel | Daption capense photo
Cape Petrel in flight

Image by Samuel Blanc / www.sblanc.com - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







CAPE PETREL FACTS

Description
The Cape Petrel has a distinctive black and white chequered pattern on the back and upper wings. The underside is white. The head, chin and throat are almost black. The broad tail is white with black tip. The bill, legs and feet are black. There are two subspecies ssp capense and ssp australe. Ssp australe has more black on the back and wings. Juveniles are similar to adults with grey instead of black.

Other Names
Cape Fulmar

Size
39 cm

Habitat
islands of Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic, open ocean

Food
crustaceans, fish, squid

Breeding
The nest is a hollow lined with under overhanging rock or in a crevice. The female lays a single white egg

Range
The Cape Petrel is found around the coastline of southern half of Australia. They breed reed on islands of Antarctica and sub-Antarctic islands. Spp capense breeds on Macquarie Island and Heard Island.

distribution map showing range of Daption capense in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Procellariiformes
Family:Procellariidae
Genus:Daption
Species:capense
Common Name:Cape Petrel