Résumé
During the breeding period, pelagic birds such as petrels and penguins commute between their colony and distant foraging grounds. Like migrating birds, they are able to travel large distances to reach suitable environmental conditions and/or food supplies. To accomplish their astonishing foraging trips, they should dispose of similar navigation capacities. Pelagic birds present a particular interesting example of animals that are challenged by orientation in an apparently featureless environment. Individuals travel over vast stretches of open ocean without landmarks. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the orientation mechanism of pelagic birds, yet the problem remains far from solved.