Buller’s shearwater (Puffinus bulleri)

Buller's shearwater gliding over ocean, ventral view
Buller's shearwater gliding over ocean, ventral view

Buller’s shearwater fact file

Buller’s shearwater description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderProcellariiformes
FamilyProcellariidae
GenusPuffinus (1)

Buller’s shearwater has been described as flying with a grace and economy like no other, characterised by longer gliding motions and less wing flapping, each bird arcing and tilting seemingly without effort (3) (4). In flight, a dark bar on the pale grey wings and lower back forms an unmistakable and arresting ‘M’-shaped pattern from above (3) (4), easily distinguishing this shearwater from any other (2). Upperparts are otherwise brownish-grey, while underparts are white (2). The grey, wedge-shaped tail is broadly tipped in black, the long, slender bill is bluish grey with a darker tip, and the legs and feet are pink (5) (6).

Size
Size: 46 – 47 cm (2)
Wingspan: 97 – 99 cm (2)
Weight
342 – 425 g (2)
Top

Buller’s shearwater biology

Buller’s shearwaters return to the Poor Knights Islands in mid-September to court females and clean out their burrows before breeding (7). Nesting occurs in large, dense colonies (5), with egg-laying beginning in October (2) (7). The single white egg is incubated by both sexes for about 51 days, and most chicks fledge at around 90 days (5). The following April to late May sees the colonies departing once more for the north Pacific (5) (7).

The diet consists of krill, small fish, squid and jellyfish (6), and birds have only recently started to scavenge fishing boat scraps (5).

Top

Buller’s shearwater range

Amazingly, the estimated population of some 2,500,000 birds breeds on just one small island group (Poor Knights Islands) off New Zealand, where it is restricted to two main islands, Aorangi and Tawhiti Rahi, and five other islets and stacks. In the non-breeding season, these masses migrate to the north Pacific Ocean, from Japan to North America, and are occasionally found off South America (6).

See this species on Google Earth.

Top

Buller’s shearwater habitat

This marine, pelagic bird comes to shore only to breed (2), nesting in burrows, rock-crevices and ledges, often under dense vegetation (6).

Top

Buller’s shearwater status

Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List 2006 (1).

IUCN Red List species status – Vulnerable

Top

Buller’s shearwater threats

Buller’s shearwater was previously caught in drift-nets in the north Pacific, with an estimated 4,000 birds killed annually, and may still be at risk from set-nets (6) (8). Longline fishing, trawling operations, and hand-and-reel lines may also pose a threat, although little documented evidence of this exists (6) (8). Furthermore, this bird’s very limited breeding range renders it extremely vulnerable to the effects of accidentally introduced predators, disease, storms and other catastrophes (6) (8). Indeed, the dense colonies nesting on the Poor Knights Islands were once devastated by introduced pigs. Thankfully, after the eradication of the pigs the shearwaters recovered spectacularly and now have a healthy, growing population, but the potential risk to a bird with such a small breeding range nevertheless remains (4).

Top

Buller’s shearwater conservation

There was a massive increase in the population after the eradication of feral pigs from Aorangi in 1936, with recolonising populations probably coming from the nearby predator-free island, Tawhiti Rahi (6). The large population is thought to be continuing to grow on the Poor Knights Islands, a protected, now predator-free nature reserve, and if it succeeds in expanding its range, this species may be downlisted to Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List (6) (7).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

For more information on Buller’s shearwater see:

Top

Authentication

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk

Top

Glossary

Pelagic
Occupying the open ocean.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (September, 2006)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org
  2. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (1992) Handbook of the Birds of the World – Ostrich to Ducks. Vol. 1. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
  3. eNature (October, 2006)
    http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=BD0663
  4. Redwood Region Audubon Society (October, 2006)
    http://www.rras.org/newsletter/artoct03b.htm
  5. Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Inc. (October, 2006)
    http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/Fauna/ShearwaterBullers.htm
  6. BirdLife International (October, 2006)
    http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3929&m=0
  7. New Zealand Birds (October, 2006)
    http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/bullersshearwater.html
  8. Audubon (October, 2006)
    http://audubon2.org/webapp/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=53

More »Related species

Sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus)Townsend’s shearwater (Puffinus auricularis)Yelkouan shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan)Newell’s shearwater (Puffinus newelli)Audubon’s shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri)Black-vented shearwater (Puffinus opisthomelas)Pink-footed shearwater (Puffinus creatopus)Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus)

This species is featured in:

This species is affected by global climate
change. To learn about climate change
and the species that are affected,
visit our climate change pages.

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Buller's shearwater gliding over ocean, ventral view  
Buller's shearwater gliding over ocean, ventral view

© Ray Wilson

Ray Wilson
ray@raywilsonbirdphotography.co.uk
http://www.raywilsonbirdphotography.co.uk

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Buller’s shearwater (Puffinus bulleri) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.