Little Shearwater

The Little Shearwater, Puffinus assimilis, is a small shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae.

This species occurs throughout the oceans of the southern hemisphere south of the Tropic of Capricorn. The form P. a. baroli also breeds in the eastern North Atlantic, on Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands.

It breeds in colonies on islands and coastal cliffs, nesting in burrows which are only visited at night to avoid predation by large gulls.

This bird 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, but in light winds has a more flapping flight than its larger relatives. This bird looks like a flying cross, with its wings held at right angles to the body, and it changes from black to white as the black upperparts and white undersides are alternately exposed as it travels low over the sea.

This is a gregarious species, which can been seen in large numbers from boats or headlands, especially on passage in autumn.

It is like a small Manx Shearwater but has proportionally shorter and broader wings, with a pale area on the inner flight feathers. Its bill is more slender than that of Manx, and its dark eye stands out against the surrounding white area.

It feeds on fish and molluscs. It does not follow boats. It is silent at sea, but at night the breeding colonies are alive with raucous cackling calls.

Despite the scientific name, this species is completely unrelated to the puffins, which are auks, the only resemblance being that they are both burrow-nesting seabirds.