Fluttering Shearwater

Puffinus gavia - Puffin volage

Puffin volage
Systematics
  • Order 
    :

    Procellariiformes

  • Family
    :

    Procellariidés

  • Genus
    :

    Puffinus

  • Species
    :

    gavia

Descriptor

Forster, JR, 1844

Biometrics
  • Size
    : 37 cm
  • Wingspan
    : 76 cm.
  • Weight
    : 230 à 415 g
Geographic range

Distribution

Identification

Puffin volage
adult
Puffin volage
adult

Medium-sized Shearwater resembling a Yelkouan Shearwater or Ashy Shearwater. Upperparts uniformly dark brown but with white patch on the edge of the wing (in fact it is the flanks). Underparts are white apart from a large dark patch at the tip of the wing. When it is in worn plumage, the bird appears paler; during the moult of the remiges, a whitish band is visible on the secondary coverts. Bill is fine and tail is short. Legs and feet are rosy brown with darker webs.
Can be mistaken with the Hutton's Shearwater (Puffinus huttoni) with which it occasionally forms mixed flocks. The latter is slightly larger and, above all, presents a significantly darker underside of the wings.

Subspecific information monotypic species

Foreign names

  • Puffin volage,
  • Pardela gavia,
  • fura-bucho-neozelandês,
  • Flattersturmtaucher,
  • Vlinderpijlstormvogel,
  • Berta frullina,
  • nyazeelandlira,
  • Flagrelire,
  • víchrovník trepotavý,
  • buřňák třepetavý,
  • Skærskråpe,
  • uudenseelanninliitäjä,
  • baldriga de Forster,
  • burzyk nowozelandzki,
  • Буроспинный буревестник,
  • ミナミミズナギドリ,
  • 棕嘴鹱,
  • nyazeelandlira,
  • 鼓翼鸌,

Voice song and cries

Puffin volage
adult

Most often heard at the colony, a rapid ka-how ka-how ka-how ka-how kihik kihik kihik kihik irrrr is the call of the Fluttering Shearwater.

Habitat

Puffin volage

Mariner. Commonly encountered close to shore, even entering ports sometimes. During reproduction, settles on well vegetated islands with cliffs or rocky slopes. Fluttering Shearwater.

Behaviour character trait

Puffin volage
adult

Very gregarious. Often joins other Puffins, as well as Larids (especially Fluttering Shearwaters).

Flight

Puffin volage
adult

The flight is fast, low and direct with very rapid wingbeats and short glides. More acrobatic in strong wind.

Dietfeeding habits

Puffin volage
adult

It mainly feeds on small fish and crustaceans which it captures either at the surface, by submerging its head in the water, or by pursuing them underwater.

Reproduction nesting

Puffin volage
adult

Very little known. Nesting in burrows or, less commonly, cavities between rocks. Only one egg laid, usually in September, the young leaving the nest late January or February.

Geographic range

Distribution
Puffin volage

Endemic to New Zealand with a limited distribution. It breeds on a large number of offshore islands of the North Island. Adults are sedentary, but the young will winter along the southeast coast of Australia.

Threats - protection

Puffin volage
IUCN conservation status
Extinct
Threatened
Least
concern
Extinc
in the Wild
Near
threatened
Not
evaluated
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC NE

The Fluttering Shearwater has suffered greatly from the introduction of predatory mammals on the islands where it reproduces. The efforts of the authorities and protection associations of New Zealand have enabled at least fifteen islands to be rid of these exotic mammals (mainly rats and cats). An attempt to create a new colony (through the transportation of chicks) on an island without predators began in 1991; and by 1995, couples were successfully nesting there.
Often captured by fishermen (even recreational anglers). No exact population count is known for this species, but it is likely to be in the tens of thousands of pairs.

Sources of information

Other sources of interest

QRcode Puffin volageSpecification sheet created on 04/08/2023 by
Translation by AI Oiseaux.net
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