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.
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
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
- 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/
- ARKive
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Buller's Shearwater. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Buller%27s_Shearwater
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
