Editing Procellariiformes (section)

===Morphology and flight===
[[File:070226 southern royal albatross off Kaikoura 2.jpg|alt= massive white bird with black wings and pink bill sits on the surface of the water|thumb|left|The [[southern royal albatross]] is one of the largest of the Procellariiformes.]]
Procellariiforms range in size from the very large [[wandering albatross]], at {{convert|11|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and a {{convert|3.6|m|ft|abbr=off|adj=on}} wingspan, to tiny birds like the [[least storm petrel]], at {{convert|20|g|oz|abbr=on}} with a {{convert|32|cm|in|abbr=off|adj=on}} wingspan,<ref name="Double" /> and the smallest of the prions, the [[fairy prion]], with a wingspan of {{convert|23|to|28|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Maynard">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Maynard |first=B. J.|editor1-first=Michael |editor1-last= Hutchins|encyclopedia=Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia |title=Shearwaters, petrels, and fulmars (procellariidae) |edition=2 |year=2003 |publisher=Gale Group|volume=8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins |pages=123–127 |isbn=978-0-7876-5784-0}}</ref> Their nostrils are enclosed in one or two tubes on their straight deeply-grooved bills with hooked tips. The beaks are made up of several plates. Their wings are long and narrow; the feet are webbed, and the hind toe is undeveloped or non-existent; their adult [[plumage]] is predominantly black, white, and grey.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Adaptive significance of seabird coloration: The case of Procellariiforms |author=Bretagnolle, Vincent |journal=The American Naturalist |year=1993 |volume=142 |issue=1 |pages=141–173 |jstor=2462637|pmid=19425973 |doi=10.1086/285532 |s2cid=205983145 }}</ref>

The order has a few unifying characteristics, starting with their tubular nasal passage which is used for [[olfaction]].<ref name=j1/> Procellariiformes that nest in burrows have a strong sense of smell, being able to detect [[dimethyl sulfide]] released from [[plankton]] in the ocean.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Buskirk|first1=R. W. Van|last2=Nevitt|first2=G. A.|date=2008|title=The influence of developmental environment on the evolution of olfactory foraging behaviour in procellariiform seabirds|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01465.x|journal=Journal of Evolutionary Biology|language=en|volume=21|issue=1|pages=67–76|doi=10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01465.x|pmid=18021198|s2cid=30270085|issn=1420-9101}}</ref> This ability to smell helps to locate patchily distributed prey at sea and may also help locate their nests within [[seabird colony|nesting colonies]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bonadonna |first1=Francesco |last2=Cunningham |first2=Gregory B. |last3=Jouventin |first3=Pierre |last4=Hesters |first4=Florence |last5=Nevitt |first5=Gabrielle A. |year=2003 |title=Evidence for nest-odour recognition in two species of diving petrel |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=206 |issue=Pt 20 |pages=3719–3722 |doi=10.1242/jeb.00610 |pmid=12966063|doi-access=free }}</ref> In contrast, surface nesting Procellariiformes have increased vision, having six times better [[spatial resolution]] than those that nest in burrows.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mitkus|first1=Mindaugas|last2=Nevitt|first2=Gabrielle A.|last3=Danielsen|first3=Johannis|last4=Kelber|first4=Almut|date=2016-11-01|title=Vision on the high seas: spatial resolution and optical sensitivity in two procellariiform seabirds with different foraging strategies|url=https://jeb.biologists.org/content/219/21/3329|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|language=en|volume=219|issue=21|pages=3329–3338|doi=10.1242/jeb.140905|issn=0022-0949|pmid=27591308|doi-access=free}}</ref> The structure of the [[Beak|bill]], which contains seven to nine distinct horny plates, is another unifying feature, although there are differences within the order. Petrels have a plate called the maxillary unguis that forms a hook on the maxilla. The smaller members of the order have a comb-like mandible, made by the [[tomia]]l plate, for [[plankton]] feeding. Most members of the order are unable to walk well on land, and many species visit their remote breeding islands only at night. The exceptions are the huge albatrosses, several of the gadfly petrels and shearwaters and the fulmar-petrels. The latter can disable even large predatory birds with their obnoxious [[stomach oil]], which they can project some distance. This stomach oil, stored in the [[proventriculus]], is a digestive residue created in the [[foregut]] of all tubenoses except the diving petrels, and is used mainly for storage of energy-rich food during their long flights.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/31_2/31_2_101-112.pdf |title=Biogeography of Procellariiform foraging strategies: does ocean productivity influence provisioning? |author1=Baduini, Cheryl L. |author2=Hyrenbach, K. David |journal=Marine Ornithology |year=2003 |volume=31 |pages=101–112}}</ref> The oil is also fed to their young, as well as being used for defense.<ref name="Double"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qrI5ph6BWiIC&pg=PA149 |title=A Wildlife Guide to Chile: Continental Chile, Chilean Antarctica, Easter Island, Juan Fernandez Archipelago |publisher=Princeton University Press |author=Chester, Sharon |year=2010 |page=149 |isbn=9780691129761}}</ref>

[[File:Whitefacedstormpetrel1.jpg|thumb|alt= White bird with grey upperparts and black face mask jumps off water surface with elongated legs.|The [[white-faced storm petrel]] moves across the water's surface in a series of bounding leaps.]]
Procellariiforms drink seawater, so they have to excrete excess salt.  All birds have an enlarged nasal gland at the base of the bill, above the eyes, and in the Procellariiformes the gland is active. In general terms, the salt gland removes salt from the system and forms a 5 percent saline solution that drips out of the nostrils, or is forcibly ejected in some petrels.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ehrlich |first1=Paul R. |last2=Dobkin |first2=David, S. |last3=Wheye |first3=Darryl |title=The Birders Handbook |edition=First |year=1988 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-671-65989-9 |pages=29–31 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/birdershandbookf00ehrl_0 }}</ref> The processes behind this involve high levels of [[sodium]] ion reabsorption into the [[blood plasma]] within the kidneys, and secretion of [[sodium chloride]] via the [[salt gland]]s using less water than was absorbed, which essentially generates salt-free water for other physiological uses. This high efficiency of sodium ion absorption is attributed to mammalian-type [[nephrons]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hughes |first=M.R. |title=Regulation of salt gland, gut and kidney interactions |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A |year=2003 |volume=136 |issue=3 |doi=10.1016/j.cbpb.2003.09.005 |pmid=14613781 |pages=507–524}}</ref>

Most albatrosses and procellariids use two techniques to minimise exertion while flying, namely, [[dynamic soaring]] and [[slope soaring]]. The albatrosses and [[giant petrel]]s share a morphological adaptation to aid in flight, a sheet of [[tendon]] which locks the wing when fully extended, allowing the wing to be kept up and out without any muscle effort.<ref name ="pen">{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rstb.1982.0158 |last1=Pennycuick |first1= C.J. |year=1982 |title=The flight of petrels and albatrosses (Procellariiformes), observed in South Georgia and its vicinity |journal =Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B |volume=300 |issue=1098 |pages=75–106 |bibcode=1982RSPTB.300...75P |doi-access= }}</ref> Amongst the Oceanitinae storm-petrels there are two unique flight patterns, one being surface pattering. In this they move across the water surface holding and moving their feet on the water's surface while holding steady above the water, and remaining stationary by hovering with rapid fluttering or by using the wind to anchor themselves in place.<ref name = "Withers"/> A similar flight method is thought to have been used by the extinct petrel family [[Diomedeoididae]].<ref name ="Mayr"/> The [[white-faced storm petrel]] possesses a unique variation on pattering: holding its wings motionless and at an angle into the wind, it pushes itself off the water's surface in a succession of bounding jumps.<ref name=j2/>