Marine Wildlife Encyclopedia
Fairy Prion Pachyptila turtur
A small, oceanic petrel, the fairy prion has a pale body and blue-gray upper wings with a distinct, M-shaped black band. It lives in flocks and feeds at night, using its bill to sieve planktonic animals from the water. The fairy prion breeds on isolated coasts, laying a single egg either in a burrow or in a hollow deep among fallen rocks.
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- Order Procellariiformes
- Length 10–11 in (25–28 cm)
- Weight 5–8 oz (150–225 g)
- Habitat Islands (breeding); open ocean
- Distribution Southern Ocean and adjoining waters
