Greater Shearwater (us-RGV)
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Contents |
Regional Information
Range, Abundance, and Seasonal Variations
Directions and Maps
General Information
Size
Length: 43-51cm (17-20in), Wingspan: 105-122cm (41-48in)
Field Marks
Identifiable by its size, dark upperparts, and underparts white except for a brown belly patch and dark shoulder markings. It has a black cap, black bill, and a white "horseshoe" on the base of the tail. Its distinctive flight, like a large Manx Shearwater, is powerful and direct, with wings held stiff and straight.
Similar species
Sounds
Feeding & Behavior
Feeds on fish and squid, which it catches from the surface or by plunge-diving. It readily follows fishing boats, where it indulges in noisy squabbles. This is a gregarious species, which can be seen in large numbers from ships or appropriate headlands.
Habitat & Nesting
Breeds in huge colonies, nesting in burrows which are visited only at night to avoid predation by large gulls.
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Range
Breeds on Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands, Tristan da Cunha, and on Gough Island. It is one of only a few bird species to migrate from breeding grounds in the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere, the normal pattern being the other way round. Follows a circular route, moving up the eastern seaboard of first South and then North America, before crossing the Atlantic in August. It can be quite common off the south-western coasts of Great Britain and Ireland before heading back south again, this time down the eastern littoral of the Atlantic.
Resources
