About the Galapagos Shearwater
The Galápagos shearwater is a small shearwater. Until recently it was considered to be a subspecies of Audubon's shearwater, but it is actually one of two members of a very ancient lineage of the small Puffinus species, the other being, as indicated by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data, the Christmas shearwater.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in June · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Mediterranean ShearwaterPuffinus yelkouanThe yelkouan shearwaters is 30–35 cm (12–14 in) in length and has a wingspan of 70–84 cm (28–33 in).
Fluttering ShearwaterPuffinus gaviaThis is a medium to small-sized shearwater with a dark-brown-and-white body.
Hutton's ShearwaterPuffinus huttoniThe bird's name commemorates Frederick Hutton, a former curator of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Learn the Galapagos Shearwater for real
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