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Wedge-tailed ShearwaterAlternate name(s): "Wedge-tailed Muttonbird*" Size: 38-45 cm; wing span 1.0 m Weight: 300-500 g |
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Similar |
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Description
Classification
Distribution
Sightings
Photos
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
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 Click here for a physical description
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
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Click here for sighting information
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Photos |
Dark morphology
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ADULT |
Sex unknown |
Near-frontal view of a roosting Wedge-tailed Shearwater
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, QLD, January 2006]
View from above onto a roosting Wedge-tailed Shearwater
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, QLD, January 2006]
Group of roosting Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, QLD, January 2006]
Wedge-tailed Shearwater, back, together with a
Hutton's
Shearwater, front (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Off Swansea, NSW, December 2017]
View from above onto the upperparts of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater
in flight
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[April 2019]
View from above onto the upperparts of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater
in flight, now with the wings angled back
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[April 2019]
Distant lateral view of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters in flight
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Mistral Point, Maroubra, NSW, February 2013]
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Breeding information |
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters nest in tunnels facing the sea side, both in south-western and south-eastern Australia. Breeding colonies are, e.g., established on Muttonbird Island NR at Coffs Harbour, NSW, and Norfolk Island.
| Breeding season: Oct - May | Eggs: 1 | Incubation period: ~50 days | Fledging age: 103 - 115 days |
| Nest building: ? | Incubation: Male & female | Dependent care: Male & female |
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Nest |
"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal] |
| Type: Tunnel | Material: Grass, feather lining | Height above ground: N/A |
Tunnels are usually dug into sandy soil. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters can also nest under overhanging rocks or under roots, tussocks or logs.
Entrance of the tunnel to a Wedge-tailed Shearwater nest with
signs of recent excavation work
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR,
Port Macquarie, NSW, January 2021]
Entrance of the tunnel to a Wedge-tailed Shearwater nest with
signs of recent excavation work
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR,
Port Macquarie, NSW, January 2021]
Entrance of the tunnel to a (disused?) Wedge-tailed Shearwater nest
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR,
Port Macquarie, NSW, January 2021]
Hill side with sandy soil into which a colony of Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters have dug their nest tunnels
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR,
Port Macquarie, NSW, January 2021]
Hill side with sandy soil into which a colony of Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters have dug their nest tunnels
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Norfolk Island, January 2008]
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Eggs |
"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay] |
| Size: 63 x 40 mm | Colour: White | Shape: ? |
