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Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) Alternate name(s): "Wedge-tailed Muttonbird*" Size: 38-45 cm; wing span 1.0 m Body mass: 300-500 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: ca. 0.38

Australia: Family Group 3 Family Group 3 table Southern Fulmar Antarctic Petrel Cape Petrel Mottled Petrel Black-winged Petrel Providence Petrel Grey-faced Petrel Kermadec Petrel Soft-plumaged Petrel Tahiti Petrel Buller's Shearwater Wedge-tailed Shearwater Flesh-footed Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Short-tailed Shearwater Fluttering Shearwater Hutton's Shearwater Little Shearwater Antarctic Prion Slender-billed Prion Fairy Prion Blue Petrel Southern Giant-Petrel Northern Giant-Petrel Light-mantled Albatross Wandering Albatross Southern Royal Albatross Northern Royal Albatross Black-browed Albatross Campbell Albatross Buller's Albatross Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Shy Albatross Common Diving-Petrel Wilson's Storm-Petrel New Zealand Storm-Petrel White-faced Storm-Petrel Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are medium-sized seabirds with two different morphologies, light and dark. The dark morphology plumage is all dark-grey, whereas the light morphology has a white front (breast, belly, vent and parts of the underwings). The name-giving tail is wedge-shaped. The legs and feet of all Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Wedge-tailed Shearwater at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Wedge-tailed Shearwater is available HERE . Wedge-tailed Shearwaters live on the tropical and subtropical oceans around the world, from about -35 degrees to +35 degrees geographic latitude. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters can reach coastal waters and the coastline of Australia anywhere on the East or West coast of the continent. In the West they reach the WA coast between the south-western tip of the continent and the Kimberley coast, in the East anywhere from the tip of Cape York peninsula to the NSW/VIC border. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters breed on offshore islands, e.g. off WA.

Sightings Click here for sighting information M. Mearns reports finding Wedge-tailed Shearwaters on Lady Elliot Island, off Agnes Water, QLD, in January 2006. B. Hensen reports spotting Wedge-tailed Shearwaters at Mistral Point, Maroubra, NSW, in February 2013. M. Roderick reports spotting Wedge-tailed Shearwaters off Swansea, NSW, in December 2017. M. Eaton reports finding Wedge-tailed Shearwaters 22 NM off Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, in April 2018. Others were found at Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, in January 2021 and again in December 2023.

Photos

Dark morphology

Note that, given the number of observations presented here and the number of photos shown of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters along the eastern seaboard of Australia, dark morphology birds must by far outnumber those with light morphology (none of which have been found yet).

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

Frontal view from above onto a roosting dark morphology Wedge-tailed Shearwater
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, QLD, January 2006]

Near-frontal view of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

Near-frontal view of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

Near-frontal view of a roosting Wedge-tailed Shearwater looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, QLD, January 2006]

Near-lateral view of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

Lateral view of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

Lateral view of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

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]

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: Male & female

Incubation: Male & female

Dependent care: Male & female

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 and are up to 2 m deep. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters can also nest under overhanging rocks or under roots, tussocks or logs.

Frontal view of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater at the entrance of its nest tunnel (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

Dorsal view of a Wedge-tailed Shearwater about to enter its nest tunnel (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

Entrance of the tunnel to a Wedge-tailed Shearwater nest with signs of recent excavation work
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, 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, Coffs Harbour, NSW, January 2021]

Entrance of the tunnel to a (disused?) Wedge-tailed Shearwater nest (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, 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, Coffs Harbour, 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]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 67 x 43 mm

Colour: White

Shape: Long elliptical

View into a Wedge-tailed Shearwater nest tunnels, possibly with a piece of broken egg shell visible
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Muttonbird Island NR, Coffs Harbour, NSW, December 2023]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Migratory/nomadic

Elementary unit: Mob/flock

Wedge-tailed Shearwaters breed in colonies and, outside the breeding season, also usually come in mobs.

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

wtshear_me_20231227.m4a	(E NSW)	Pair "singing"	© ME
wtshear_me_20231227_2.m4a	(E NSW)	Begging calls (chick)	© ME

More Wedge-tailed Shearwater sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.