- Calonectris leucomelas
Identification
48cm. 122 cm wingspan. Scaled, dark grey-brown upperparts, white underparts. White head has variable light to heavy pale brown streaks. Uppertail coverts can be white, forming a pale "horseshoe." The forehead is white. Bill is pale. Legs and feet are pink.
When resting on water can remind of a younger California Gull due to the long neck and small head.
Distribution
Pacific Ocean, nesting in Japan and many of its offshore islands. After breeding, the it migrates southward with the highest wintering concentration around and north of New Guinea but with birds seen toward southern Australia and well off the west coast of the United States.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Open sea; pelagic.
Behaviour
The diet includes small fish and squid.
It uses burrows to nest in, preferring forested hills.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Paper describing non-breeding distribution of Streaked Shearwater
