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Deepseawaters
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Sea BirdsSooty Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Common Name: Sooty Shearwater
Scientific Name: Puffinus griseus
Description
Length:
41 - 51 cm. All plumages: Sooty brown above
and below, darkest on upper wings and tail; bill black and
more slender than that of the Greater Shearwater; underwing
linings are grayish white.
The
Sooty shearwater is a pelagic bird,
that is, a bird that lives in open oceans and normally only
come ashore to breed.
Sooty
Shearwaters are migratory birds common in both the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans, where they range from the Antartic pack
ice to North of the equator. They are commonly found at sea
in flocks numbering over 20,000 birds feeding on anchovies,
squid and small crustaceans. From November through to April
they bred in large colonies in New Zealand, Tasmania, the
Falkland Islands and on Islands off Cape Horn. The birds lay
a single egg in burrows exposed to sea winds.
In
New Zealand, the Sooty Shearwater is known
as the Oi or Mutton Bird. It is still a significant part of
the diet of many Maori, and around a quarter of a million
chicks are harvested each year. It has similarly been a staple
food of the Palawa peoples of Tasmania, who likewise continue
to harvest the bird, notably on the islands of the Bass Straight.
Diet
Crustaceans, plankton,
and small fish
Range
Breeds
in New Zealand and adjacent islands, in the Falklands and
on islands near Cape Horn. Outside the breeding season, it
is widely distributed north to Labrador, southern Iceland,
the Faeroes and western Norway in the Atlantic and also occurs
widely in the Pacific.
Remarks
These
birds outnumber Greater Shearwaters when the two species first
arrive here in May, but the ratio is soon reversed as the
Sooty Shearwaters quickly pass on to the eastern Atlantic.
Only a small portion of this species' total population migrates
to the North Atlantic; the majority winters in the North Pacific
or off Peru.
Identification Tips
Length: 16 inches
Wingspan: 43 inches
Sexes similar
Pelagic bird
only coming ashore to breed
Large shearwater
Dark bill with
tube on top
Dark gray head,
body and feet
Pale underwings
Rapid wingbeats
Glides on stiff
wings
Similar Species
Gulls
are not as gray and flap their wings more slowly and smoothly
and lack the tube on top of the bill. The gray morph of the
Northern Fulmar is stockier and has a yellow bill. Flesh-footed
Shearwater has pink legs and bill. Short-tailed
Shearwater is very similar but is somewhat smaller with
a steeper forehead.
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