18. Short-Tailed Shearwater
(Puffinus tenuirostris)
Plate 8

Field Characters: 96/41. A medium-sized, sooty brown shearwater with short, slender bill and small fan-shaped tail. Underwing dark brown. In sunny conditions light reflections on the underwing may cause the primaries to appear silvery.

Bill and feet dark brown.

Differs from Sooty Shearwater (20) by its smaller size, and dark underwing (see note below); from Flesh-footed Shearwater (15) by its smaller size, dark bill and feet, and different flight behaviour; from Wedge-tailed Shearwater (17) by its smaller size, short tail, dark feet and different flight behaviour.

Flight as for Sooty Shearwater (20).

Summer breeder on islands in Bass Strait. Migrates from Tasmanian waters in large flocks to North Pacific for the southern winter.

Note: A small proportion of individuals have pale underwing coverts, similar to Sooty Shearwater (20). Such birds, if seen singly, cannot be distinguished from Sooty Shearwaters at sea. When flocks are encountered, these can be identified by the underwing colour of the majority.