Slender-billed Prion

The slender-billed prion (Pachyptila belcheri) or thin-billed prion, is a species of petrel, a seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is found in the southern oceans. == Taxonomy == The slender-billed prion was formally described in 1912 by the Australian born ornithologist Gregory Mathews under the binomial name Heteroprion belcheri. The prion is now placed with the other prions in the genus Pachyptila that was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek pakhus meaning "dense" or "thick" with ptilon meaning "feather" or "plumage". The specific epithet belcheri was chosen in recognition of the Australian judge and amateur ornithologist Charles Belcher who had found the first specimens dead on a beach near the town of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria. The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The name prion comes from the Greek word priōn, meaning "saw", a reference of the serrated edges of the birds' saw-like bill. The slender-billed prion is a member of the Pachyptila genus, which, in combination with the genus Halobaena (whose single species is the blue petrel) makes up the polyphyletic traditional tribe of prions (or whalebirds). Prions…