Wedge-tailed shearwater
| Wedge-tailed shearwater | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Procellariidae |
| Genus: | Ardenna |
| Species: | A. pacifica |
| Binomial name | |
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Ardenna pacifica (Gmelin, 1789) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Procellaria pacifica Gmelin, 1789 |
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Procellaria pacifica Gmelin, 1789
The wedge-tailed shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and the short-tailed shearwater of Australia. It ranges across from throughout the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean roughly between latitudes 35°N and 35°S. It breeds on islands off of Japan, on the Islas Revillagigedo, the Hawaiian Islands, the Seychelles the Northern Mariana Islands and off Eastern and Western Australia.
The wedge-tailed shearwater is the largest of the tropical shearwaters. There are two colour morphs of the species, dark and pale; the pale morphs predominate in the North Pacific, the dark morph elsewhere. However, both morphs exist in all populations, and bear no relation to sex or breeding condition. The pale morph has grey-brown plumage on the back, head and upperwing, and whiter plumage below. The darker morph has the same dark grey-brown plumage over the whole body. The species' common name is derived from the large wedge-shaped tail, which may help the species glide. The bill is dark and legs are salmon pink, with the legs set far back on the body (in common with the other shearwaters) as an adaptation for swimming.
This species is related to the pan-Pacific Buller's shearwater, which differs much in colour pattern, but also has a wedge tail and a thin black bill. They make up the Thyellodroma group, a superspecies of the large shearwaters that were for a long time included in the genus Puffinus.
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