Snow petrels are small but mighty. They nest farther south than any other bird on Earth, farther south even than emperor penguins. They are among an elite few that call the South Pole home, including the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua. True to their name, they are snowy white with bright black eyes.
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Unlike emperor penguins that raise babies on the ice, snow petrels must find bare rock to make their pebble nests. They nest year after year in the same rocky crevices, which give babies some cover from predatory skuas.
Snow petrels forage on open water for food that they catch or scavenge. They are not picky eaters, feeding on fish, krill and even dead animals like whales.
Parents have a disgusting but effective defense mechanism to keep their babies safe from skuas. They puke at them. The oily puke builds up in rubbery mats outside their nests year after year in the dry Antarctic climate. Gross.
Snow petrels raise one baby every other year in a world that can see 24-hour daylight or 24-hour darkness with the seasons.
Like albatrosses and fulmars, snow petrels are silent while soaring over the ocean waves. But they make a chattering call at their nests.
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