Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus)

There are two colour morphs of Wedge-tailed Shearwater, the white-breasted and the dark. This photo shows both forms. The dark form is the most common in Australia. This photograph was taken on Tern Island, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Image by Duncan, Welllington NZ - Some rights reserved. (view image details)

Wedge-tailed Shearwater chick.

Image by G Dan Hutcheson - Some rights reserved.

BIRD FACTS

Description
The Wedge-tailed Shearwater is a grey-brown petrel with distinctive wedge-shaped tail. It has a grey bill and pink feet. Most of these birds in Australia are dark all over, but some are white breasted.

Other Names
Muttonbird, Sooty Shearwater

Size
40-45cm. Wingspan 1m

Habitat
oceans, islands off east and west coast of Australia

Food
feeds on ocean, diving for fish.

Breeding
Breeds in large colonies. Nests under sand in 1-2m long burrow. Nest lined with grass and feathers. 1 white egg.

distribution map showing range of Puffinus pacificus in Australia

distribution map showing range of Puffinus pacificus in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Classification

Class:	Aves
Order:	Procellariiformes
Family:	Procellariidae
Genus:	Puffinus
Species:	pacificus
Common Name:	Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Relatives in same Genus
  Bullers Shearwater (P. bulleri)
  Flesh-footed Shearwater (P. carneipes)
  Pink-footed Shearwater (P. creatopus)
  Fluttering Shearwater (P. gavia)
  Great Shearwater (P. gravis)
  Sooty Shearwater (P. griseus)
  Huttons Shearwater (P. huttoni)
  Audubons Shearwater (P. lherminieri)
  Manx Shearwater (P. puffinus)
  Short-tailed Shearwater (P. tenuirostris)