Shearwaters and Petrels - Pétrels et  puffins 

These are marine birds, related to albatrosses and sharing peculiar arrangement of nostrils, giving the alternative name, ‘tubenoses’.  Being strictly seabirds, they rarely approach land except when nesting.  They come ashore to breed in burrows, only under the cover of darkness. None are properly able to walk on land.  They are able to glide effortlessly and endlessly on stiffly outstretched wings, sailing on any breath of wind, as they patrol vast expanses of open ocean in search of food.  These seabirds have oily, waterproof feathers and a dense undercoat of insulating down. Their webbed feet help them swim, and are also used, especially by the storm petrels, to patter upon the ocean surface in search of floating bits of food.

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Did you know ??

These seabirds'   tubular nostril-like structures on the tops of their bills secrete excess ocean salt and apparently enable the birds to detect scents with great sensitivity and follow them to productive foraging sites scattered across vast featureless expanses of open ocean.