Balearic Shearwater
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| Puffinus mauretanicus P.R. Lowe, 1921 |
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Puffinus puffinus mauretanicus |
The Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It was long regarded a subspecies of the Manx Shearwater; see there for more on the Puffinus puffinus superspecies; following a split in the early 1990s it was held to be a subspecies of the "Mediterranean Shearwater"[citation needed] for some ten more years, until it was resolved to be a distinct species (Sangster et al, 2002). It is the species of the puffinus complex that was last recognized as a separate taxonomic entity.
It appears to belong to a group of Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic species which includes the Yelkouan Shearwater (Austin, 1996) and one to three prehistorically extinct taxa, Hole's and possibly also Olson's Shearwater and an undescribed form of unclear distinctness from Menorca (Alcover, 2001). Hole's Shearwater may be the closest known relative of P. mauretanicus[citation needed].
This species breeds on islands and coastal cliffs in the Balearic islands. Most winter in that sea, but some enter the Atlantic in late summer, reaching north to Great Britain and Ireland.
This species nests in burrows which are only visited at night to avoid predation by large gulls.
This bird is 35-40 cm long, with an 85-90 cm wingspan. 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 the less contrasted plumage, this species is very similar to the Atlantic Manx Shearwater and the Yelkouan Shearwater found elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
It is under some threat from the development of holiday resorts near its breeding sites, and also from animals such as cats and rats.
This is a gregarious species, which can been seen in large numbers from boats or headlands, especially on in autumn.
It is silent at sea, but at night the breeding colonies are alive with raucous cackling calls, higher pitched than the Manx Shearwater's.
The Balearic Shearwater feeds on fish and molluscs. It does not follow boats.
[edit] References
- Alcover, Josep Antoni (2001): Nous avenços en el coneixement dels ocells fòssils de les Balears. Anuari Ornitològic de les Balears 16: 3-13. [Article in Catalan, English abstract] PDF fulltext
- Austin, Jeremy J. (1996): Molecular Phylogenetics of Puffinus Shearwaters: Preliminary Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 6(1): 77–88. DOI:10.1006/mpev.1996.0060 (HTML abstract)
- BirdLife International (2005). Puffinus mauretanicus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is critically endangered
- Sangster, George; Knox, Alan G.; Helbig, Andreas J. & Parkin, David T. (2002): Taxonomic recommendations for European birds. Ibis 144(1): 153–159. DOI:10.1046/j.0019-1019.2001.00026.x PDF fulltext
