wedge tailed shearwater

Large size, long and broad wings, long pointed or wedge shaped tail, and fine dark bill. In calm conditions, lazy flapping and short glides with wings held forward and bowed. Rather rakish appearance with longer tail and extended neck compared with Flesh-footed. In strong winds flight is erratic and bounding, often changing direction and soaring in low arcs between short bursts of flapping, Dimorphic: pale morph has white underparts and underwing coverts with dark primaries and trailing edge dark morph is all dark including dark underwing (although paler bases to primaries may give impression of pale patch) intermediates occur

Often follows fishing boats. Feeds mainly on the wing, by dipping to the surface; also by plunging head under water, but seldom completely submerges. Partly pelagic: also occurring in offshore waters.

Wedge-tailed shearwaters feed pelagically on fish, squid, and crustaceans. Their diet is 66% fish, of which the most commonly taken is goatfish.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater utters loud groans, moans and wails. They utter series of short calls during courtship displays. Defence of nest is accompanied by strong calls which continue during combats. Vocalizations occur at night in breeding colonies.

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 throughout the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans roughly between latitudes 35°N and 35°S. It breeds on islands off 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. The two colour morphs of the species are 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 upper wing 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.