Derivation
Pel'-e-can-öïd'-ës - Gk, pelecan, pelican; -oides, from Gk, eidos, form = like: ü-rï-nä'-trix - L., diver (feminine form)
Habitat
Circumpolar, from sub-tropical waters north of sub-tropical Convergence to sub-Antarctic waters north of Antarctic Convergence. Inshore waters around breeding islands.
Argentina, Australia (B), Chile (B), Falkland Islands (Malvinas), French Southern Territories (B), Heard Island and McDonald Islands (B), New Zealand (B), South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (B), St Helena, Uruguay (NB).
Vagrant to Antarctica.
Population
Estimated population is 16,000,000 (2010).
Voice
A moaning whistle 'ku, ku-aa', the pitch of each soft call rising on the third syllable, in colonies. Also loud nasal braying 'kuaka-did-a-did' and variations, in display flight and on the ground. Silent when at sea.
Common Diving Petrel (Pelecanoides urinatrix) [XC555357]
by Chris Taylor from Mayes, France (call)
Common Diving Petrel (Pelecanoides urinatrix) [XC863030]
by id from Mayes island, France (song, song at night during breeding season. individual singing from its nest.)
Nest
A chamber at the end of a crooked burrow. In colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
1; white; oval; about 38 x 30 mm. Incubation: about 55 days; by both sexes.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledging in about 47 - 58 days.
Subspecies
Subspecies exsul and berard sometimes considered distinct species.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
urinatrix (Gmelin, 1789) - South-eastern Australia and Tasmania to northern New Zealand.
chathamensis Murphy & Harper, 1916 - Southern New Zealand.
exsul Salvin, 1896 - South Georgia east to Antipodes Is.
dacunhae Nicoll, 1906 - Tristan da Cunha, Gough I.
berard (Gaimard, 1823) - Falkland Is.
coppingeri Mathews, 1912 - Suspected to breed in southern Chile.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9