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Buller's Shearwater - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Swift
Little Barrier Island, New Zealand, November 2003

Alternative names: Grey-backed Shearwater or New Zealand Shearwater.

Ardenna bulleri

Identification

Length 16" (41 cm), wingspan 40" (102 cm)
Clean white below, grey above, dark carpal bars and primaries create distinct M-shaped pattern, dark cap and tail, broad-based wings.

Photo © by Glen Tepke
Monterey Bay, California, USA, September 2008

Distribution

Breeds islands off New Zealand; wide transpacific dispersal. In northern Pacific in a clock-wise movement, from May in the west to October by California.

Yellow category on Audubon Watchlist.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species[1].
Formerly placed in genus Puffinus.

Habitat

Pelagic when not breeding.

Behaviour

Photo © by Glen Tepke
Monterey Bay, California, USA, September 2008

Flight

Graceful flight, soars extensively.

Diet

The diet includes small fish, squid, crustaceans, jellyfish and krill.

Breeding

Colonial breeders, nesting in burrows, rock crevices or under tree roots. The white egg is incubated by both adults for 51 days.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. ARKive

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

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