[Length 4.5 in. Wingspan 6.25 in.]

This female White-collared Seedeater was photographed at Zacate Creek, Laredo, Texas. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=390mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: February 6, 2010)

[Length 4.5 in. Wingspan 6.25 in.]

This male White-collared Seedeater was photographed at Zacate Creek, Laredo, Texas. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED lens + Nikkor TC20E II 2.0x Teleconverter (EFL=900mm) on a Nikon D300 camera. (Date: February 8, 2010)

[Length 4.5 in. Wingspan 6.25 in.]

This male White-collared Seedeater was photographed at Zacate Creek, Laredo, Texas. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=450mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: February 8, 2010)

[Length 4.5 in. Wingspan 6.25 in.]

This male White-collared Seedeater was photographed at San Ygnacio, Texas. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: April 2000)

[Length 18 in. Wingspan 44 in.]

This Cory's Shearwater was photographed on a pelagic boat trip out of Hatteras, North Carolina. Photo taken with a Soligor 300mm f5.6 lens on Ektachrome 200 film. (Date: May 1978)

[Length 18 in. Wingspan 42 in.]

This Great Shearwater in flight was photographed in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: July 1994)

[Length 18 in. Wingspan 42 in.]

This Great Shearwater was photographed in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: July 1994)

[Length 16 in. Wingspan 38 in.]

Short-tailed Shearwaters are all dark, gull-like birds which spend most of their time at sea. A careful examination reveals the long, narrow wings which are the trademark of all Shearwaters. A more subtle field mark is the lack of white on the leading or trailing edges of the wings. All Gulls (even the species which have darkish breeding or immature plumages) show one or both of these field marks. The Short-tailed Shearwater also seldom flaps its wings like a Gull, but glides effortlessly over the waves. Short-tailed Shearwaters breed on islands off the Australian coast. They spend their "winter" (our summer) in the north Pacific, and return south in the fall and early winter, when they can be seen off the west coast of North America. This Short-tailed Shearwater was photographed from the Homer to Kodiak ferry in Alaska. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: June 1989)