Birds have many ways of grabbing a meal.

They swoop, dive, pack hop and hover for food.

But birds called pre-ons have an especially creative approach.

They pass sea water through their mouths and filter it to catch tiny animals such as

krill and other small crustaceans.

Similar to how baline whales feed, leading to the pre-ons nickname, the whale bird.

These broad-billed pre-ons fly near the surface, tipping their bills into the water.

The sides of their bills have comb-like structures.

Small food items get trapped in the combs as the water flows past.

In Greek, the word pre-on means saw, which refers to the bird's highly specialized mouth.

There are seven species of pre-ons, 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

pre-on, nest in the comparatively warm climates of Australia and New Zealand.

Small pre-ons dig burrows for their nests, giving them some protection from predators.

See photos of pre-ons when you visit our website, birdnote.org.

I'm Ariana Rimmel.