Petrel

Petrels are a monophyletic[1] group of marine seabirds, sharing a characteristic of a nostril arrangement that results in the name "tubenoses".

1670) pitteral; the English explorer William Dampier wrote the bird was so called from its way of flying with its feet just skimming the surface of the water, recalling Saint Peter's walk on the sea of Galilee (Matthew xiv.28); if so, it likely was formed in English as a diminutive of Peter (< Old French: Peterelle (?)

The family Procellariidae is the main radiation of medium-sized true petrels, characterised by united nostrils with medium septum, and a long outer functional primary feather.

It includes a number of petrel groups, the relationships between which have finally been resolved to satisfaction.

Where the whale and the shark and the sword-fish sleep, - Outflying the blast and the driving rain, The petrel telleth her tale — in vain!