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Shearwaters     Greater Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Cory's Shearwater Complex Manx Shearwater Audubon's Shearwater Little Shearwater (Macronesian) Manx Shearwater in North America Flight | Size Comparisons |  North American List

Greater Shearwater photographed by Scott Spangenberg.

Four Shearwater Day
You can see 4 species of shearwaters on a good trip to Stellwagen Bank: Greater, Sooty, Manx, and Corys. If you see  Audubon's  have had a great day.

Shearwater Flight
The flight of the shearwaters (and Northern Fulmar ) especially with some decent sized waves is both beautiful and remarkable. Alternating flapping and gliding on stiff wings, the shearwater banks over the waves just above the surface. Just when you think the bird will plunge headfirst into a wave it rises in a high arch only to glide down into the next trough.

Even flying in an almost straight line the shearwater alternates flapping with gliding. Watch closely and you may notice a shearwater catch up and pass a boat going 25 knots.

When taking off from the water, the shearwater faces into the wind and runs on the water. This Sooty Shearwater is taking off with little wind forcing it to run further. After taking in a large amount of food, a bird may be unable to take to the air and may run on the water just to get away from the boat.

Size Comparisons
This table of size comparisons was taken from Harrison's Seabirds (2)

Shearwaters and Your North American Bird List
Shearwaters are best added to your North American list as pelagics. Two of the five shearwaters seen in New England waters are southern hemisphere breeders: Greater and Sooty. Cory's Shearwater breeds in the Mediterranean and on islands on the east side of the Atlantic. The only way to count these birds for your North American list is to see them as pelagics in summer. Shearwaters are very difficult to see on the breeding grounds as they enter and leave the burrow only at night..