Editing Petrel

{{Short description|Seabird}}
{{About|the seabird|other uses}}
{{Redirect|Peterel|the Royal Navy ship using this archaic spelling|HMS Peterel}}
{{Update|part=the Known species sections|reason=the Known species section includes a partly outdated generic and family-level classification and doesn't cite any relevant sources published since 2004 (or any relevant phylogenetic studies published since the late '90s)|date=September 2021}}

[[File:Westland petrel flying.jpg|thumb|A Westland petrel]]
'''Petrels''' are tube-nosed [[seabird]]s in the [[Phylogenetic tree|phylogenetic]] order [[Procellariiformes]].

==Description==
Petrels are a [[monophyletic]]<ref name=monophyly>{{ cite journal | last1=Prum | first1=R.O. | author1-link=Richard Prum | last2=Berv | first2=J.S. | last3=Dornburg | first3=A. | last4=Field | first4=D.J. | last5=Townsend | first5=J.P. | last6=Lemmon | first6=E.M. | last7=Lemmon | first7=A.R. | year=2015 | title=A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing | journal=Nature | volume=526 | issue=7574 | pages=569–573 | doi=10.1038/nature15697 | pmid=26444237 | bibcode=2015Natur.526..569P | s2cid=205246158 | doi-access= }}</ref> group of marine seabirds, sharing a characteristic of a nostril arrangement that results in the name "tubenoses".<ref>{{cite web |title=Petrels and Shearwaters {{!}} Bird Family Overview |url=https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/petrels-and-shearwaters/ |website=The RSPB}}</ref> Petrels encompass three of the four extant families within the Procellariiformes order, namely [[Procellariidae]] (fulmarine petrels, gadfly petrels, diving petrels, prions, and shearwaters), [[Hydrobatidae]] (northern storm petrels), and [[Oceanitidae]] (austral storm petrels). The remaining family in Procellariiformes is the [[albatross]] family, Diomedeidae.

{{Cladogram
|caption=Phylogeny of the extant procellariforms based on a study by Richard Prum and colleagues published in 2015.<ref name=monophyly></ref> Petrels (Procellariidae, Hydrobatidae, and Oceanitidae) form a monophyletic group according to this cladogram.
|align=center
|cladogram={{Clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:90%;width:460px;
|label1=Procellariiformes
|1={{clade
   |1=[[Diomedeidae]] – albatrosses (21 species)
   |2={{clade
      |1=[[Oceanitidae]] – austral storm petrels (10 species)
      |2={{clade
         |1=[[Hydrobatidae]] – northern storm petrels (18 species)
         |2=[[Procellariidae]] – petrels and shearwaters (100 species)
      }}
   }}
 }}
}}
}}

== Etymology ==
The word ''petrel'' (first recorded in that spelling 1703) comes from earlier (''ca.'' 1670) ''pitteral''; the English explorer [[William Dampier]] wrote the bird was so called from its way of flying with its feet just skimming the surface of the water, recalling [[Saint Peter]]'s walk on the sea of Galilee (Matthew xiv.28); if so, it likely was formed in English as a diminutive of Peter (< Old {{langx|fr|Peterelle}} (?) < Late {{langx|la|Peterellus}} < Late {{langx|la|Petrus}} < {{langx|grc|Πέτρος|Petros}} < {{langx|grc|πέτρα|petra}} = "stone").{{Citation needed|date=April 2024|reason=previously cited a preprint}}

==Known species==
All the members of the order are exclusively [[pelagic]] in distribution—returning to land only to breed.

The family '''[[Procellariidae]]''' is the main radiation of medium-sized '''true petrels''', characterised by united nostrils with medium septum, and a long outer functional primary feather. It is dominant in the [[Southern Ocean]]s, but not so in the Northern Hemisphere.

It includes a number of petrel groups, the relationships between which have finally been resolved to satisfaction.<ref name=Austin/><ref name=Bretagnolle/><ref name=Nunn/><ref name=Brooke/>
* The fulmarine petrels: seven species of surface predators and [[filter feeder]]s, breed in high latitudes but [[bird migration|migrate]] along cool currents to the north. All but ''Fulmarus'' are essentially confined to the south, ''Fulmarus'' apparently colonised the Northern Hemisphere during the Early [[Miocene]].
** The huge [[giant petrel]]s, genus ''Macronectes'', which are convergent with the [[Albatross|albatrosses]]
** The true [[fulmar]]s, genus ''Fulmarus''
** [[Antarctic petrel]] ''Thalassoica antarctica''
** [[Cape petrel]] ''Daption capense''
** [[Snow petrel]] ''Pagodroma nivea''
* The [[prion (bird)|prions]]: A specialised group of a few very numerous species, all southern. They have a small, fulmar-like form and mostly filter-feed on zooplankton.
** ''[[Pachyptila]]'', the prions proper
* The procellariine petrels, larger or mid-sized species feeding on fish and molluscs which are fairly close to the prions:
** ''[[Procellaria]]''
** ''[[Bulweria]]''
* [[Shearwater]]s: There are numerous species in several genera with a medium number of species.
** ''[[Calonectris]]''
** ''[[Puffinus]]'', which is two rather distinct groups of larger and smaller species
** ''[[Pseudobulweria]]''
** [[Kerguelen petrel]] ''Lugensa brevirostris''
* The [[gadfly petrel]]s: These are a considerable number of agile short-billed petrels in the genus ''Pterodroma'' which include the endangered [[Bermuda petrel]] (or cahow) and a considerable number of forms rendered [[extinct]] by human activity.
* The [[diving petrel]]s: These are the four species of [[auk]]-like small petrels of the southern oceans in the genus ''Pelacanoides''.

The family '''[[Oceanitidae]]''' is the austral (or southern) storm petrels, and the family '''[[Hydrobatidae]]''' is the northern storm petrels. Collectively, they are known as the '''storm petrels''', small pelagic petrels with a fluttering flight which often follow ships.

==In culture==
Petrels are culturally significant, and well-known poems have been written about the bird. One such example is given here.

{{Blockquote
|text=<poem>
Up and down! - up and down!
From the base of the wave to the billow’s crown,
And amidst the flashing and feathery foam
The stormy petrel finds a home, - 
A home, if such a place may be
For her who lives on the wide, wide sea.

O’er the deep! - o’er the deep!
Where the whale and the shark and the sword-fish sleep, -
Outflying the blast and the driving rain,
The petrel telleth her tale — in vain!
</poem>|source = From ''"The Stormy Petrel"'' poem ''by [[Barry Cornwall]]''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kXd4bRr71a4C&dq=Charles+Timothy+Brooks+ON+Alpine+heights&pg=PA354 ''A Library of Poetry and Song: Being Choice Selections from The Best Poets. With An Introduction by William Cullen Bryant''], New York, J.B. Ford and Company, 1871, p. 354.</ref>}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Birds}}
*[[Skua]]
*[[Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Austin>{{cite journal|author=Austin, Jeremy J. |year=1996|title= Molecular Phylogenetics of ''Puffinus'' Shearwaters: Preliminary Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome ''b'' Gene Sequences|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=6|issue=1|pages= 77–88|doi=10.1006/mpev.1996.0060|pmid=8812308|bibcode=1996MolPE...6...77A }}</ref>

<ref name=Bretagnolle>{{cite journal|author=Bretagnolle, V., Attié, C., Pasquet, E.|year=1998|title=Cytochrome-''B'' evidence for validity and phylogenetic relationships of ''Pseudobulweria'' and ''Bulweria'' (Procellariidae)|journal=Auk|volume=115(1|issue=1|pages=188–195|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v115n01/p0188-p0195.pdf|doi=10.2307/4089123|jstor=4089123}}</ref>

<ref name=Brooke>Brooke, M. (2004): ''Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. {{ISBN|0-19-850125-0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nunn>{{cite journal|author1=Nunn, Gary B.  |author2=Stanley, Scott E.  |name-list-style=amp |year=1998|title= Body Size Effects and Rates of Cytochrome ''b'' Evolution in Tube-Nosed Seabirds|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|volume=15|pages= 1360–1371|pmid=9787440|url=http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/10/1360.full.pdf|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025864|issue=10|doi-access=free}} [http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/17/11/1774.pdf Corrigendum]</ref>
}}

==External links==
*{{wiktionary-inline|petrel}}
*[http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/petrels-shearwaters-procellariidae Petrel and shearwater videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
*[http://www.acap.aq Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP)]
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[[Category:Procellariiformes]]
[[Category:Seabirds]]
[[Category:Petrels| ]]
[[Category:Bird common names]]