Bird name:

Pink-footed Shearwater

Puffinus creatopus

Order

PROCELLARIIFORMES

Family

Petrels and Shearwaters (Procellariidae)

Code 4

PFSH

Code 6

PUFCRE

ITIS

174547

Breeding Location:

Islands, grassy

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Colonial

Breeding Population:

Yes but uncommon

Egg Color:

White

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

48 - 56

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

No material added to nest.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Pink-footed Shearwater: Large shearwater with gray-brown upperparts, white underparts, and mottled brown flanks and undertail coverts. White underparts and wing linings are variably mottled. Head is gray-brown and pink bill is tipped with black. Flight feathers are dark-bordered and underwing coverts are mottled gray. Legs and feet are pink. Sexes are similar.

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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and 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.

Vocalization

Pink-footed Shearwater: Silent at sea.

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.

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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.

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