Streaked shearwater

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Streaked shearwater
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Calonectris
Species:
C. leucomelas
Binomial name
Calonectris leucomelas
(Temminck, 1836)

The streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) is a species of seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It is native to the Western Pacific and ranges from Japan to Australia.[2]

Description

This shearwater has broad wings with a brown upperside and white underwings. The head and neck are flecked white to almost complete white. The face and underparts are all white. The bill is grey to pink with a dark tip while the feet are pinkish-grey.[3]

Streaked shearwaters have a body length (from tip of bill to end of tail feathers) of 45 to 52 centimetres (18 to 20 in) and a wingspan between 103 and 113 centimetres (41 and 44 in).[4]

Flecked head and dark upperside are distinct.

Distribution

This species is pelagic, but is also found in inshore waters. It occurs in the Pacific Ocean, nesting in Japan and the Korean Peninsula, predominantly on their offshore islands.[5][6][7][note 1][note 2] After breeding, the streaked shearwater migrate south, feeding in the seas off northern New Guinea, the Arafura Sea, and the South China Sea.[5] Calonectris leucomelas have also been reported well off the west coast of the United States,[8] from the southern coast of India,[9] and from New Zealand.[10] There is also a record of a specimen collected in Wyoming.[11]

Ecology

The streaked shearwater feeds mainly on fish and squid. It follows fishing boats, attracted to anchovy crawls off Japan and has been known to be taken as by-catch in nets or drowned when ingesting the bait on long-line fishing lines.

The streaked shearwater nests in burrows. It prefers forested hills.

This bird is abundant and widespread; however, some mortality occurs through becoming entangled in fishing nets, and from some predation by cats and rats. In addition, it is harvested by some traditional endemic human cultures.

Notes

  1. See figure 1 in Hart 2015, p. 56 for a Korean distribution map.
  2. South Korean breeding sites include Sasu Island (사수도) and Chilbal Island (칠발도) where they are threatened by rat depredation. Lee, Kyung-gyu; Yoo, Jeong-chil (2002). "Breeding Population of Streaked Shearwaters (Calonectris leucomelas) and the Effect of Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) Predation on Sasudo Island". Journal of the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology. 33 (2): 142–147. doi:10.3312/jyio1952.33.142.; Nam, Ki-Baek; Lee, Kyung-Gyu; Hwang, Jae-Woong; Yoo, Jeong-Chil (2014). "Variation in Breeding Burrows of Streaked Shearwaters Breeding in Sasu Island, and Predation Rates by Norway Rats". Ocean and Polar Research. 36 (1): 49–57. doi:10.4217/OPR.2014.36.1.049.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2018). "Calonectris leucomelas". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018 e.T22698172A132630766. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698172A132630766.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Mlodinow, Steven G.; Pyle, Peter; Boesman, Peter F. D. (2026). "Streaked Shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas), version 2.0". Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.strshe.02. ISSN 2771-3105.
  3. Brazil, Mark (2018). Birds of Japan. Helm field guides. London Oxford New York New Delhi Sydney: Helm. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-4729-1386-9.
  4. Howell, Steve N. G.; Zufelt, Kirk (2019). Oceanic Birds of the World: a Photo Guide. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-691-17501-0.
  5. Yamamoto, Takashi; et al. (2010). "At-sea distribution and behavior of streaked shearwaters (Calonectris leucomelas) during the nonbreeding period". Auk. 127 (4): 871–881. doi:10.1525/auk.2010.10029. S2CID 85046196.
  6. Sugawa, Hisashi; Karino, Kiyotaka; Ohshiro, Akio; Hirai, Masashi (2014). "Long-term trends in breeding site fidelity of streaked shearwater Calonectris leucomelas" (PDF). Marine Ornithology. 42: 11–15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2017.
  7. Hart, Kirk A.; et al. (2015). "Streaked Shearwaters Calonectris leucomelas of the Korean Peninsula: Distribution, status and potential threats". Forktail. 31: 55–63.
  8. Herrick, Samuel F.; Hanan, Doyle A. (1988). A review of California entangling net fisheries, 1981-1986. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS SWFC-108. Southwest Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
  9. Praveen, J. (2014). "Pelagic offshore birding from Southern India 2013". Sea Swallow. 63: 46–48.
  10. Scofield, R.P.; Christie, D.; Palma, R.L.; Tennyson, A.J.D. (2010). First record of streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) in New Zealand. Notornis. pp. 212–215.
  11. Howell, Steve N.G.; Patteson, J. Brian; Shearwater, Debra (2012). Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America: A Photographic Guide. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-14211-4.

Further reading

  • Dunn, Jon L. (2017). National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. ISBN 978-1-4262-1835-4.
  • Seabirds, an Identification Guide by Peter Harrison, (1983) ISBN 0-7470-1410-8
  • Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 1, Josep del Hoyo editor, ISBN 84-87334-10-5