[Simon Thurgood Images] [Simon Thurgood Images]


Gallery - Shearwaters

[darkfulmar3]Northern Fulmar, dark morph (Fulmar glacialis)

Scarce northern birds, darker overall, smoky brownish-grey with pale wing patches more striking.


[RSPB amber conservation status][More information about Northern Fulmar, pale morph][fulmar3]Northern Fulmar, pale morph (Fulmarus glacialis)

The Fulmar has been clasified as a Amber list species-medium conservation concern.

A seabird related to the albatrosses which nests on cliffs and buildings near the sea. They feed from the surface or plunge dive for crustaceans,fish and offal.


[RSPB amber conservation status][More information about Sooty Shearwater][sootyshearwater13]Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus)

The Sooty Shearwater is a Amber list species-Medium conservation concern.

Dark all over, narrow wings, breeds in South Atlantic in winter and visits North atlantic in summer and autumn.


[cory7]Corys Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea)

This large Shearwater spends most of its life in warm, open oceans and visits remote coasts and Islands only to breed. Feeds mainly at night on fish and offal from the surface or by shallow plunge dives.


[RSPB amber conservation status][More information about Great Shearwater][greatshearwater3]Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis)

Breeding on remote islands in the South Atlantic these Shearwaters migrate northwards after nesting. The migration route brings them to Western European coasts in late summer.


Manx Shearwater group (Puffinus)

These medium sized and smaller species have named the whole genus with their characteristic stiff-winged mode of flight, "shearing the waves, often appearing first black and then white as they tilt alternately from one wing-tip to the other, especially in strong winds. Unlike the larger shearwaters, they also have a fluttering flight.


[RSPB amber conservation status][More information about Manx Shearwater][manxshearwater5]Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus)

The Manx Shearwater is a Amber list Species-Medium conservation concern.

Breeds in colonies in burrows on islands and clifftops, is the commonest European Shearwater


[RSPB red conservation status][More information about Balearic Shearwater][balearicshearwater4]Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus)

It flies strongly with rapid, shallow wingbeats, wings are held stiffly-like those of the Manx Shearwater. In strong winds it frequently glides side on to the waves. It will settle on the water to rest and often plunge-dives for food. It breeds on offshore islands in the western mediterranean, comming ashore at night to avoid predators such as large gulls. The rest of the time it lives at sea but it tends to feed closer inshore than the Manx Shearwater.



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