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MarineCavity nestLarge · 388 g
ID tip
The wedge-tailed shearwater is the largest of the tropical shearwaters. The two colour morphs of the species are dark and pale; the pale morphs predominate in the North Pacific, the dark morph elsewhere. However, both morphs exist in all populations, and bear no relation to sex or breeding condition. The pale morph has grey-brown plumage on the back, head, and upper wing, and whiter plumage below. The darker morph has the same dark grey-brown plumage over the whole body. The species' common name is derived from the large, wedge-shaped tail, which may help the species glide.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Wedge-tailed Shearwater
One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 10 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is April, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Wedge-tailed Shearwater
The map shades 45 countries with regular records, and 9 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in India, Chile, Thailand, South Africa, Tokelau, Mayotte, Hong Kong SAR China, Malaysia, Tuvalu.
About the Wedge-tailed Shearwater
The wedge-tailed shearwater is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and the short-tailed shearwater of Australia. It is found throughout the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, roughly between latitudes 35°N and 35°S. It breeds on the islands off Japan, on the Islas Revillagigedo, the Hawaiian Islands, the Seychelles, the Northern Mariana Islands, and off Eastern and Western Australia.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Great ShearwaterArdenna gravisThis shearwater is 43–51 cm (16.9–20.1 in) in length with a 105–122 cm (3.5–4.0 ft) wingspan.
Pink-footed ShearwaterArdenna creatopusMale pink-footed shearwaters on average are found to be larger than females.
Short-tailed ShearwaterArdenna tenuirostrisThe short-tailed shearwater or slender-billed shearwater, also called yolla or moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird both in early Australia and in New Zealand, is the most abundant seabird species in Australian waters, and is one of the few Australian native birds in which the chicks are commercially harvested.
Side by side: Sooty Shearwater vs Wedge-tailed Shearwater · Pink-footed Shearwater vs Wedge-tailed Shearwater · Great Shearwater vs Wedge-tailed Shearwater
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