Hutton's Shearwater

Puffinus huttoni

Endangered · IUCN Red List

ENEndangeredInvertebratesMarineCavity nestLarge · 364 g

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The bird's name commemorates Frederick Hutton, a former curator of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand. A medium-sized (350 g) seabird, with a 75 cm wingspan, it is brown with a white underbelly and brown collar, dark borders to the underwing, dark grey bill, and pinkish dark-webbed feet. It can be distinguished from the fluttering shearwater by its dark grey "armpits". At a breeding colony it has a loud cackling call.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Hutton's Shearwater

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 11 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is November, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Hutton's Shearwater

Regular range

The map shades 2 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

About the Hutton's Shearwater

Hutton's shearwater is a medium-sized ocean-going seabird in the family Procellariidae. Its range is Australian and New Zealand waters, but it breeds only in mainland New Zealand. Its conservation status is Endangered, because there are just two remaining breeding colonies, located in the Seaward Kaikōura Range. Six other shearwater colonies have been destroyed by introduced pigs. Hutton's shearwater is the only seabird in the world that is known to breed in alpine areas. Conservation measures for the bird include predator control at the breeding sites, establishing the Kaikōura Dark Sky Sanctuary, and community initiatives to rescue birds that crash-land at night on streets in Kaikōura.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Hutton's Shearwater vs Mediterranean Shearwater · Galapagos Shearwater vs Hutton's Shearwater

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