Yelkouan Shearwater
Link copied.
Puffinus yelkouan
Link copied.
How to recognize it
-
30–35 cm long
-
Blackish upperparts sharply contrast with the white underside
-
Low over the sea, banking side to side on stiff wings with few wingbeats
About the species
Over the water, the Yelkouan Shearwater shows a sharp split between dark brown upperparts and white underparts, with the two colors flashing as it banks. Its small, slender black bill has visible nostril tubes, and its gray-pink feet are marked with dark patches. In flight, its long wings spread straight out from the body.
It glides low over the sea, tipping from side to side on stiff wings with few flaps, and is usually quiet at sea. After dark, breeding colonies fill with high, drawn-out calls that sound like rough cackling. It visits its burrow only at night, avoiding large gulls.
It breeds on islands and coastal cliffs in the eastern and central Mediterranean, then spends much of its time over open water. It eats fish and molluscs and may follow fishing boats when scraps are thrown overboard. Most remain in the Mediterranean through winter, while a few reach the Atlantic in late summer.
Where to find
-
In autumn, scan from a Mediterranean headland for Yelkouan Shearwaters gliding low over the water with hardly a wingbeat.
-
From a boat in the Mediterranean, watch flocks follow fishing vessels when fish offal is thrown overboard.
-
During the breeding season, listen at night for loud, rasping calls from colonies on rocky islands off the Mediterranean coast.
