Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE ALBATROSSES AND PETRELS

Shearwaters

A large and somewhat varied group of birds known as Shearwaters comprises principally the second subfamily (PuffmincB), deriving their popular name from their habit of gliding along very close to the surface of the water, and their scientific designation from the mistaken notion that they were Puffins. They are strong-flying Petrels, with long, slender bills in which the nasal tubes are united externally, or nearly so, above the culmen, and with long, pointed wings.

They are found on practically all of the seas of the world, though ordinarily at no great distance from land, to which, however, they rarely resort except for nesting purposes. Some twenty-five species have been described, of which number North America lays claim to ten or more; but as the differences between the species are not very strongly marked and the habits very similar, it will only be necessary to select a few of the more important. One of the largest species is the Great Shearwater or Hagdon (P. major) of the Atlantic Ocean generally, a bird nineteen or twenty inches long, having the upper parts fuscous, with the wings and tail slightly darker, while the under parts are white, becoming ashy gray on the abdomen and under tail-coverts. It is exceedingly abundant in many parts of the Atlantic, especially off the coast of Newfoundland, where Palmer speaks of seeing them in thousands sitting on the water.

Brewster saysof its flight: “It usually follows a direct course, and invariably skims close over the waves. I know of no other sea-bird whose movements are so easy and graceful. Indeed, at times, especially during a gale, its evolutions will compare in grace and spirit with those of the Mississippi or Swallow-tailed Kites.”Its nest and eggs are unknown. Of the four species found in the British seas the Manx Shearwater (P. puffinus) is the most abundant and best known.

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