Prions Filter-Feed Like Whales

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 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]

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]

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]

All prions dig burrows for their nests, giving them some protection from predators.

[Fairy Prion parent and chicks]

See photos of prions when you visit our website, BirdNote.org. I’m Ariana Remmel.

This episode is brought to you by the Bobolink Foundation.

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Broad-billed Prion ML 153841911 recorded by N. McArthur, Fairy Prion ML 280191951 and ML 280193281 recorded by H. Krajewsky.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote July 2022 & September 2024/2026
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