page_title: Common diving petrel
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Common diving petrel / Description
context_page_description: The Common diving-petrel, also known as the smaller diving-petrel or simply the diving-petrel, is a diving petrel, one of five very similar auk-like small petrels of the southern oceans. It is native to South Atlantic islands and islands of the subantarctic southern Indian Ocean, islands and islets off New Zealand and south-eastern Australian islands.
context_section_description: The common diving-petrel is a small, plump petrel, 200 to 250 mm (7.9–9.8 in) in length and weighing around 86 to 186 g (3.0–6.6 oz). The plumage is black above and dull white below and it has a relatively short black bill. The wings have thin white strips. The face and neck can be more brown than black. The legs and feet are blue with blackish-brown webbing in between the toes. Unless seen very close, it is almost indistinguishable from the South Georgian diving petrel, P. georgicus. The common diving-petrel has brown inner web primary feathers, whereas the South Georgia petrel has light inner web feathering. Common petrels have smaller and narrower bills than the South Georgia petrel. Another difference is that the South Georgia diving petrel has a posterior black line down the tarsi. The common species is also slightly larger than the South Georgian species.
caption: Adult specimen in flight.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5DS", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.8 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2017:03:24 15:33:30", "Image ExifOffset": "206", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "890", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5717", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:03:24 14:43:17", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:03:24 14:43:17", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "870723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2827819/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "100", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "59", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "59", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "79080107/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "79080107/32768", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "015021000071", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[100, 100, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000080b60"}