Tropical Shearwater

Puffinus bailloni Bonaparte, 1857

≈31 cmLength69 cmWingspan214 gWeight

This seabird occurs in tropical waters of the western Indian Ocean and the Pacific.

Busiest months: November · Most records: Seychelles, British Indian Ocean Territory, French Polynesia

Least Concern

How to identify

Where and when it's recorded

Tropical Shearwater has been recorded at 38 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 16 countries and regions.

Records by month Southern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

ArideSeychelles181 records
Diego GarciaBritish Indian Ocean Territory64 records
Tahiti to Moorea ferryFrench Polynesia32 records

More places

Cousin Island NRSeychelles17 records
Étang du GolRéunion11 records
Embouchure de la Rivière St-ÉtienneRéunion9 records
Christmas IslandKiribati7 records
Weno IslandMicronesia7 records
Rangiroa – Tiputa PassFrench Polynesia7 records
TetiaroaFrench Polynesia6 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Seychelles British Indian Ocean Territory French Polynesia Réunion Micronesia Sri Lanka Kiribati Christmas Island

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The tropical shearwater (Puffinus bailloni) is a seabird in the family Procellariidae formerly considered conspecific with Audubon's shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri).

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Tropical Shearwater?

The Tropical Shearwater is about ≈31 cm long, with a wingspan of 69 cm and weighs around 214 g.

Where does the Tropical Shearwater live?

Its breeding range: Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean: tropical Indian and tropical Pacific oceans. It is most often recorded in Seychelles, British Indian Ocean Territory and French Polynesia.