Fluttering Shearwater vs Galapagos Shearwater

Fluttering Shearwater

Puffinus gavia

Medium229 gMarine

This is a medium to small-sized shearwater with a dark-brown-and-white body. The upper parts, including neck, wings and tail, are uniformly dark brown. The face and neck have a grey-brown colour gradually fading into white below the eye. The under body, from chin to the under-tail, is white except for a dark thigh patch that can be seen in flight. The bottom wing is commonly white while the axillary area is covered in grey-brown fur. Under light conditions, the appearance is different.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Natewilbournee · CC0

Galapagos Shearwater

Puffinus subalaris

Medium168 gMarine

The Galápagos shearwater has dark brown upperparts, undertail and underwing flight feathers, the rest of the underparts plumage being white. It sometimes has a dark collar. Both sexes are alike, as are the young after fledging. It is a slender-bodied shearwater, about 29–31 cm long, with a wingspan of around 63 cm and weighs 123-225 g. The species closely resembles the tropical shearwater, although the latter is typically blacker and has a longer tail.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Carlos Domínguez-Rodríguez · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Fluttering Shearwater and Galapagos Shearwater.