Pink-footed Shearwater (Ardenna creatopus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Ardenna ("of Ardennes") creatopus ("flesh foot")

 Adult Pink-footed Shearwater (Ardenna creatopus) on Half Moon Bay Pelagic September 2022

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 580-900g  /  Length: 48cm  /  Wingspan: 109cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

The Pink-footed Shearwater is a fairly large Shearwater species found on the waters off the Pacific off the Americas. It breeds primarily on the Juan Fernández Islands and Isla Mocha in Chile and disperses over vast distances as far North as Alaska. It's exact taxonomy is somewhat in dispute as some genetic testing as suggested it is only neglibily different from the similar Flesh-footed shearwater.

Related Species:
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Ardenna
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED STATES 
Seen offshore on the Pacific coasts
- CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Seen on the Half Moon Bay Pelagic Trip
 

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Buller's Shearwater (Ardenna bulleri)

OTHER NAMES: Gray-backed Shearwater, New Zealand Shearwater
Latin Etymology: Ardenna ("of Ardennes") bulleri (named for Sir Walter Lawry Buller)  

Adult Buller's Shearwater (Ardenna bulleri) on Half Moon Bay Pelagic - September 2022

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 342-425g  /  Length: 46-47cm  /  Wingspan: 97-99cm
NO UK STATUS/ IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

A larger shearwater with a distinctive pale back marked by a large "M" shaped marking across the back of the wings. It nests primarily on the islands of Tawhiti Rahi and Aorangi off the coast of New Zealand where it nests in burrows or crevices. Outside the breeding season it roams much of the Pacific ocean, largely in a clockwise direction.

Related Species:
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Ardenna
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED STATES 
- CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Seen on the Half Moon Bay Pelagic Trip

A pelagic Pacific species seem offshore from the West Coast and Hawai'i

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea)

OTHER NAMES: Muttonbird
Latin Etymology: Ardenna ("of Ardennes") grisea ("grey")

Adult Sooty Shearwaters (Ardenna grisea) on Half Moon Bay Pelagic - September 2022

Featured Subspecies: None - monotypic
Weight: 650-980g  /  Length: 40-51cm  /  Wingspan: 94-110cm
UK GREEN LIST / IUCN Red List: Near Threatened

The sooty shearwater is a somewhat strange species to quantify; it had a vast range that covers much of the Atlantic, Pacific and South Seas ranging from Iceland to nearly Antarctica, and circumnavigates the world. Yet it also has a very very small number of breeding locations - limited entirely to some at the Southern most tip of South America, the East Coast of Australia and a number around New Zealand. Yet because of their pelagic lifestyle they wander the globe hunting for fish and squid, often following whales. They are one of a number of all-dark shearwater species globally, but the only one found in the UK, where they are best seen in late Summer.

Related Species:
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Ardenna
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A somewhat uncommon pelagic passage migrant.

 - One bird seen on a boat trip off The Lizard, Cornwall, 

UNITED STATES 
Found off Pacific and Atlantic Coasts, including Hawai'i
 - CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Abundant on the Half Moon Bay Pelagic Trip

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Scopoli's Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea)

OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Calonectris ("Good swimmer") diomedea (named after mythical King Diomedes)

Two Adult Scopoli's Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) at Capo Murro di Porco, Sicily, Italy - May 2018

Local Name (Italian): Berta Maggiore ("Greater Shearwater")
Weight: 560-730g  /  Length: 45cm  /  Wingspan: 112-122cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Another species which has experienced a bit of wrangling taxonomically in recent years - traditionally it was considered the Mediterranean subspecies of the larger Cory's Shearwater - a bird that is found across the Atlantic.  However, deeper within the Mediteranean, it is the smaller and paler Scopoli's which is now treated as it's own species by most authorities.  They are named after Giovanni Antonio Scopoli - an Italian naturalist who lived in the 1700s who corresponded with Linnaeus.

Related Species:
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Calonectris
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

ITALY - Fairly commonly seen from headlands
 - SICILY 2018 TRIP - Seen from Capo Murro di Porco in several small flocks

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

Yelkouan Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan)

OTHER NAMES: Levantine Shearwater, Mediterranean Shearwater
Latin Etymology: Puffinus (Shearwater) yelkouan ("Wind Chaser")

Six Adult Yelkouan Shearwater at Capo Murro di Porco, Sicily, Italy - May 2018

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 395g  /  Length: 30-38cm  /  Wingspan: 76-89cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

There probably hasn't been such a dramatic reappraisal of species in recent decades as that undertaken by the shearwaters.  Bird books from the 90s just list Manx Shearwater and perhaps describe regional differences.  However, more recent analysis has in Europe alone has split the species from 1 to three, with more around the world.  The Yelkouan Shearwater is the species of this complex found more in the Eastern Mediterranean where it largely breeds on smaller islands where it is less disturbed by humans.

Related Species:
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Puffinus
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

ITALY - Italian: Berta Minora Mediterranea ("Lower Mediterranean Shearwater")
Fairly commonly seen from headlands
 - SICILY 2018 TRIP - Seen from Capo Murro di Porco in several small flocks

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

Manx Shearwater (Puffinis puffinus)

OTHER NAMES: Baakie Craa

Latin Etymology: Puffinis ("cured carcass of a shearwater") puffinus ("cured carcass of a shearwater")

Adult Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) at Trevose Head, Cornwall - April 2015

Four Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) at Trevose Head, Cornwall - June 2011

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 350-575g  /  Length: 30-38cm  /  Wingspan: 76-89cm
UK AMBER LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Excepting the diurnal and open nesting Fulmar, the Manx shearwater is possibly the easiest of the petrels to see in the UK. This however, does not mean it is specifically easy either - the best way to see any member of the family is to go on a pelagic boat trip early in the morning, where with any luck, you should get close views. Unfortunately for me, my trips to Cornwall have been before the pelagic trips started up for the year making it impossible. However, if you pick the right headland at an appropriate time of the year you may see flocks of these birds distantly out at sea - notice the distinctive wing shape. Manx Shearwaters are nocturnal during the breeding season and nest in burrows on offshore islands. One other interesting fact is that for birds, shearwaters are incredibly long lived for birds - a wild Manx Shearwater in Ireland is believed to be 55 years old!

Related Species:
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Puffinus
Subspecies: none - monotypic. Seven former subspecies are now considered separate species each.

- Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - An abundant but very local breeding species on certain islands (280,000-320,000 pairs) and abundant passage migrant

 - Seen most years after 2011 from Trevose Head  in very variable numbers, depending on time of year visited and weather conditions

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .

Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)

OTHER NAMES: Fulmar, Mallemuck
Latin Etymology: Fulmarus (from Old Norse species name) glacialis ("icy")

Adult Northern Fulmar (subspecies F. g. glacialis) - at Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumbria - July 2009

Featured Subspecies: Fulmarus glacialis glacialis

Weight: 400-1000g / Length: 46cm / Wingspan: 102-112cm

UK AMBER LIST / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Out of all the the petrel and shearwater family in the UK, seeing a fulmar is exponentially easier than seeing any other one of that group. It is a purely coastal bird, and despite superficial resemblance to a gull, isn't closely related to them. Personally, my favourite way to view this bird is to stand at the top of a cliff near where they are nesting and get close aerial views as they use the wind along the cliff to swoop or hover. Found among much of the UK coast, they should be a relatively easy target to see.

Related Species:

Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Fulmarus
Subspecies: F. g. glacialis, F. g. auduboni, F. g. rodgersii

- Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - An localised resident breeding species (500,000 pairs) and abundant Wintering resident (1,600,000 birds)

 - Seen at Trevose Head and Dunstanburgh Castle.

UNITED STATES 
Primarily off West Coast and very north edge of East Coast
 - CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Dark phase birds seen on the Half Moon Bay Pelagic Trip

Further Notes: Arkive, BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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