[Length 13.5 in. Wingspan 33 in.]

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

[Length 12 in. Wingspan 27 in.]

This Audubon's Shearwater was photographed at Cape Hatteras, NC, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor ED 300mm f4.5 lens on Ektachrome 200 film. (Date: August 1979)

[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, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: June 1989)

[Length 16 in. Wingspan 38 in.]

This Short-tailed Shearwater was photographed at Kodiak, AK, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor ED 300mm f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: June 1989)

[Length 17 in. Wingspan 40 in.]

This Sooty Shearwater taking flight from the water 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 17 in. Wingspan 40 in.]

This immature Wedge-tailed Shearwater was photographed at Kilauea Point on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, USA. Photo taken with a 300mm f4.5 Nikkor ED lens on Kodachrome 64 film. (Date: December 1981)