They go to land only to breed and rear chicks. ![]() "People may think of them as being tied to land, but they're not." "Diving petrels are a lot like fish, living in a fluid environment - for them, the fluid is wind," Nevitt says. They are well adapted to the wild southern oceans, gliding for days in stormy winds and diving 30 to 50 meters underwater to catch food. ![]() The smell is musk and fear and dirt and 12-meter waves and fish for dinner, all rolled into a single sharp whiff - and it helps at least one species of small, oceangoing birds get back to its nests alive.ĭiving petrels are dove-sized, gray-and-black birds, small but solid, "like sausages," according to Nevitt. Nevitt, a UC Davis professor studying sensory biology in sub-Antarctic birds, says it's "musky." But a descriptor from the cologne counter seems far too weak for this smell. The feathers have an odor that's hard to describe. So, too, does a sniff from a tiny Tupper-ware of feathers in Gabrielle Nevitt's office. Putting your nose up to an ammonia bottle does it. Very few smells actually thump the back of your throat.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |