Short-tailed shearwater

Short-tailed shearwaters are marvellous migratory seabirds. They make a round trip of 30,000km each year, a feat managed in only six weeks. The adults breed in , arriving there in September and leaving in April with their fledgling chicks following a month later. The birds northwards all the way to the .


Their long narrow wings span one metre, ideal for the high-speed oceanic and shearing . Although awkward on land, short-tailed shearwaters are competent swimmers capable of diving ten metres in pursuit of fish. They are also most abundant seabird numbering over 23 million. The chicks are commercially harvested for feathers and oil and have become known as ?muttonbirds?.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Short-tailed_Shearwater

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