Wedge-tailed Shearwater — Australian Bird Identification Guide | BetterBirding

Bird guideWedge-tailed Shearwater

It attends these colonies nocturnally , although nonbreeding wedge-tails are often seen at the surface throughout the day and breeding birds rest outside their burrows before laying.

Spot this species Read on Wikipedia

⚠️SA: Vulnerable

🍃Indigenous: Wedge-Tailed Petrel, Wedge-Tailed Mutton-Bird, Petrel, Little Mutton-Bird, Mutton-Bird

At a glance

FamilyShearwaters and Petrels

SizeSmall

RarityCommon

HabitatPelagic; mostly offshore and over open ocean, occasionally seen from coastal headlands during passage.

Best timeMost reliable in New South Wales from September to October.

Sounds

Sound sample

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Recorded by Dries Van de Loock

Range map

Range map

Occurrence window

200approx hotspots

55486approx records

3states

Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence

Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.

Species notes

Overview

Fairly common in warm tropical waters and at times visible from shore. Typical flight is unhurried with easy buoyant glides and stiff wingbeats. Plumage variable: most birds are gray-brown above and whitish below; others are dark brown overall. Note pale scaly edgings to back feathers and slender grayish bill.

Behavior

Occurs locally in flocks of hundreds; elsewhere occurs in smaller numbers. Usually seen with feeding flocks of other seabirds.

Gallery

Regional timing

New South Wales

Peak: September to October42,850 records

Victoria

Peak: January to February412 records

Queensland

Peak: November to March2,371 records

Northern Territory

Peak: March56 records

Western Australia

Peak: January395 records

Tasmania

Peak: February2 records

Australian Capital Territory

Peak: December38 records

Commonly confused with

Short-tailed ShearwaterArdenna tenuirostrisHas narrow, crooked wings and flies with quick, snappy wingbeats. Variable underwing pattern, usually rather dark with a less distinct silvery flash than Sooty Shearwater, but difficult to judge depending on lighting. Common in the Pacific Ocean, especially around Australia and New Zealand and up to the Bering Sea. Unknown from South America. Extremely similar to Sooty Shearwater. Short-tailed is lighter and has more crooked wings; also look for slightly shorter bill and more rounded head.→Flesh-footed ShearwaterArdenna carneipesShorter-tailed and stockier than dark-morph Wedge-tailed Shearwater (which usually has dark bill). Also compare with dark Procellaria petrels such as Parkinson’s; note overall shape and differences in bill shape and pattern. Namesake foot color is difficult to see in normal field conditions. Fairly common over much of Pacific and Indian oceans; uncommon to rare off west coast of North America. Breeds on islands off the coast of southern Australia and northern New Zealand. Not likely to be seen from land; stays further offshore.→Fluttering ShearwaterPuffinus gaviaName is derived from distinctive low and fast “fluttering” flight with rapid bursts of wingbeats. Easily confused with Hutton’s Shearwater where habitats overlap on the Cook Strait. Hutton’s is slightly larger with little white showing on the chin and more extensive gray armpit smudging. Little Shearwater also occurs in northern waters but is smaller, with white extending through or above the eye.→