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Prions Filter-Feed Like Whales
Specialized bills let these birds filter their food from the water!
© Ed Dunens
Birds called prions have an especially creative approach to getting their food. They pass seawater through their mouths and filter it to catch tiny animals such as krill and other small crustaceans. It’s similar to how baleen whales feed, leading to the prion’s nickname: the whale-bird. The sides of their bills have comb-like structures. Small food items get trapped in the combs as water flows past. In Greek, the word “prion” means saw, which refers to the bird’s highly specialized mouth.
BirdNote®
Prions Filter-Feed Like Whales
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[ocean ambi: light surf]
Birds have many ways of grabbing a meal. They swoop, dive, peck, hop, and hover for food. But birds called prions [PREE-awns] have an especially creative approach. They pass seawater through their mouths and filter it to catch tiny animals such as krill and other small crustaceans. It’s similar to how baleen whales feed, leading to the prion’s nickname: the whale-bird.
[Broad-billed Prion, ML 153841911, 0:15-0:18]
These Broad-billed Prions fly near the surface, dipping their bills into the water. The sides of their bills have comb-like structures. Small food items get trapped in the combs as water flows past. In Greek, the word “prion” means saw, which refers to the bird’s highly specialized mouth.
[Broad-billed Prion, ML 153841911, 0:15-0:18]
There are seven species of prions, all found in the southern latitudes of the Atlantic and Pacific. While some breed on frigid islands off the coast of Antarctica, others, such as the Fairy Prion, nest in the comparatively warm climates of Australia and New Zealand.
[Fairy Prion, ML 280191951]
All prions dig burrows for their nests, giving them some protection from predators.
[Fairy Prion parent and chicks, ML 280193281, 0:16-0:19]
See photos of prions when you visit our website, BirdNote dot org. I’m Ariana Remmel.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler. Broad-billed Prion ML 153841911 recorded by N. McArthur, Fairy Prion ML 280191951 and ML 280193281 recorded by H. Krajewsky.
© 2022 BirdNote July 2022 / September 2024 Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# prion-01-2022-07-28 prion-01
References: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/brbpri1/cur/introduction
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/procel3/cur/introduction
Conor Gearin
Writer