Sooty Shearwater Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesSooty Shearwater
Relatively large, all-dark shearwater with silvery flashes under the wing. Note narrow wings, short tail, and slender, strongly hooked, tubenosed bill.
© Darren Clark / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 25, 2019Relatively large, all-dark shearwater with straight, narrow wings, heavy body, and small head.
© David M. Bell / Macaulay LibraryBritish Columbia, October 21, 2018Often flies low to the water with stiff wingbeats interspersed with long glides.
© Blair Dudeck / Macaulay LibraryBritish Columbia, October 21, 2018Relatively large, all-dark shearwater with silvery flashes under the wing. Note slender, sharply hooked, tubenosed bill. Typically seen on the open ocean; only occasionally from shore.
© Darren Clark / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 25, 2019Relatively large, all-dark shearwater with small, rounded head.
© Peter Steward / Macaulay LibraryWestern Cape, March 01, 2019Flock
Sometimes occurs in immense flocks such as in fall along the California coast. Breeds in the Southern Hemisphere and travels into most of the world's oceans on long annual migrations.
© Brian Rusnica / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 23, 2017Similar SpeciesShort-tailed Shearwater
Very similar to Sooty Shearwater but with different migration; check range maps and dates to help differentiate. Short-tailed Shearwaters have somewhat less distinct silvery white flashes on the underwing, and a somewhat shorter bill and steeper forehead, than Sooty.
© Ramit Singal / Macaulay LibraryTasmania, November 21, 2020Similar SpeciesNorthern Fulmar
Northern Fulmars are chunkier and less streamlined than Sooty Shearwaters. Fulmars have a shorter, heavier bill, thicker neck, and broader wings that often show small white flashes in the outer wing.
© Dorian Anderson / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, October 24, 2020Similar SpeciesHeermann's Gull
Second winter
Immature Heermann's Gulls (and many other immature gulls) are colored similarly to Sooty Shearwaters. Pay closer attention to shape than to color: gulls have broader wings and thicker necks and bills than Sooty Shearwaters. They fly on bent wings with floppier wingbeats, often higher above the water than shearwaters.
© Ted Keyel / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, November 26, 2021Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Shearwaters and Petrels(Order: Procellariiformes, Family: Procellariidae)
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