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Story: Petrels

Foraging methods

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Foraging methods

Petrels gather food in a variety of ways. Some, like storm petrels and fairy prions, take food from the sea’s surface without landing. At the other extreme, sooty shearwaters dive 60 metres or more to find food. Some of the others fish in the top few metres of the sea.

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Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

by Craig McNeill

Source: Kerry-Jayne Wilson, Flight of the huia. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2004, p. 240

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How to cite this page

Kerry-Jayne Wilson, Petrels – Shearwaters, Procellaria and fulmarine petrels, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/8583/foraging-methods (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Kerry-Jayne Wilson, published 2 March 2009.