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Bird name:

Pink-footed Shearwater

Puffinus creatopusOrder: PROCELLARIIFORMES Family: Petrels and Shearwaters (Procellariidae)

Codes: Common Name: PFSH Scientific Name: PUFCRE ITIS Taxonomic No.: 174547

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Pink-footed Shearwater: Large shearwater, gray-brown upperparts, white underparts, mottled brown flanks and undertail coverts. Head is gray-brown and pink bill is tipped with black. Flight feathers are dark-bordered and underwing coverts are mottled gray. Alternates slow wing beats with low glides.

Range and Habitat

Pink-footed Shearwater: Breeds on islands off coast of Chile; summer visitor off the west coast as far north as southeastern Alaska. Prefers open ocean, well offshore over the continental shelf.

Topo Map: Gull-like Body

Voice Text

Generally silent

Interesting Facts

The Pink-footed Shearwater was first mentioned in the diaries and ship logs of sailing vessels that visited the Juan Fernández Islands in the late 1600s and early 1700s.

They appear similar to immature gulls but can be separated at great distances by their different flight styles. Shearwaters fly closer to the surface of the water, often disappearing behind swells.

Although the practice of harvesting chicks for food is illegal on Isla Mocha, they are considered a local delicacy and 20 percent of the annual chick production (3,000–5,000) is harvested each year, from March to May, by the island’s residents.

A group of shearwaters are collectively known as an "improbability" of shearwaters.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Irina Rud-Volga

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Pink-footed Shearwater

● Song: Generally silent

● Foraging & Feeding: Pink-footed Shearwater: Feeds on small fish, squid, and crustaceans. Forages by plunge diving from flight; also snatches food from the water surface. Rarely follows ships.

● Breeding & nesting: Pink-footed Shearwater: One white egg is laid in a burrow on a grassy island and incubated by both parents for 48 to 56 days.

● Similar species: Pink-footed Shearwater: Black-vented Shearwater is much smaller with a faster wing beat. Streaked Shearwater is paler below with a streaked nape.

Flight Pattern

Languid flight of slow wing beats with low glides.

Pink-footed Shearwater Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Pink-footed Shearwater: Breeds on islands off coast of Chile; summer visitor off the west coast as far north as southeastern Alaska. Prefers open ocean, well offshore over the continental shelf.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight25.6 Ounces

Gull-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Undertail coverts

Small feathers that cover the areas where the retrices (tail feathers) attach to the rump.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Flight feathers

Located on the wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Pink-footed Shearwater

Related Birds

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Range and Habitat

Topo Map: Gull-like Body

Voice Text

Interesting Facts

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Artist

Pink-footed Shearwater

Flight Pattern