The Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. Puffinus is a Neo-Latin loanword based on the English "puffin" and its variants, that referred to the cured carcass of the fat nestling of the Manx shearwater, a former delicacy.
The Balearic shearwater was long regarded a subspecies of the Manx shearwater. Following an initial split, it was held to be a subspecies of the "Mediterranean shearwater" for nearly ten more years,
It appears to belong to a group of Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic species which includes the yelkouan shearwater It has the typically "shearing" flight of the genus, dipping from side to side on stiff wings with few wingbeats, the wingtips almost touching the water. This bird looks like a flying cross, with its wing held at right angles to the body, and it changes from dark brown to dirty white as the dark upperparts and paler undersides are alternately exposed as it travels low over the sea.
Apart from its less contrasting plumage, this species is very similar to the Manx and yelkouan shearwaters found elsewhere in the Mediterranean. At least one mixed breeding colony of Balearic and yelkouan shearwaters exists on Menorca, and the species' winter ranges overlap in the Central Mediterranean; for scientific purposes at least, a combination of morphological characteristics and DNA sequence data is suggested to identify the species. which are visited only at night to avoid predation by large gulls.
Feeding
The Balearic shearwater feeds on fish and molluscs. It does not follow boats.
Conservation and threats
The Balearic shearwater is considered critically endangered with extinction by the IUCN. The Balearic shearwater is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels applies.
References
External links
- BTO BirdFacts - Balearic shearwater
- BirdLife species factsheet
- Flickr Field Guide Birds of the World Photographs
- Oiseaux