Shearwaters on the move

09 Aug 2016 Great Shearwater by Joe Pender

August is one of the best months for seeing shearwaters off the coasts of Britain and Ireland. The most widespread of these elegant birds is the Manx Shearwater, which breeds in large numbers at a handful of island sites, such as Rum and the Pembrokeshire islands. They undertake long feeding flights during the breeding season and can be seen from suitable vantage points in many coastal areas. Their incredible migration takes them thousands of miles to winter off southern Brazil.

Four other species are regularly encountered, with two of these, Sooty and Great Shearwaters breeding in the sub-Antarctic islands, spending their 'winter' in the North Atlantic before heading back south in August and September. Late summer is also the best for spotting Cory's Shearwater. Breeding mainly in the Canary Islands, they move north in search of food at this time of year. A similar strategy is employed by the globally endangered Balearic Shearwater, which also enters British and Irish waters in late summer. 

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