Alternative name: Muttonbird, Slender-billed Shearwater
- Ardenna tenuirostris
Identification
41-43 cm.
- Dark sooty-brown overall plumage
- Pale chin with slightly paler breast and belly
- Prominent whitish area along centre of underwing
- Toes extend beyond tip of short tail
- Dark bill, legs and feet
Similar species
Sooty Shearwater is larger, stiffer in flight, and the pale underwing panel is concentrated on primary coverts in this species.
Distribution
Breeds on small islands near Australia. In non-breeding season, disperses to northern Pacific and Beering sea, where performing a clock-wise movement ending near California for those birds not hurrying back to breed.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species1.
Formerly placed in genus Puffinus.
Habitat
Small islands
Behaviour
The diet includes krill, squid and fish.
They excavate burrows for nests and 1 white egg is laid.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Short-tailed Shearwater. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Short-tailed_Shearwater
