Scopoli's shearwater

How it lives

Scopoli's shearwaters nest in colonies on offshore Mediterranean islands, on cliffs, in caves and among boulders. Breeding starts in April. Pairs stay together and return to the same nest site each year. A single egg is laid by late May, both parents incubate it for about 52 days, and the chick leaves the nest about 89 days after hatching. They can live for more than 20 years in the wild.

Where it goes

They breed on Mediterranean islands, from the Chafarinas Islands off Morocco to the Dodecanese in Greece. After breeding, most leave the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar, on average around 31 October, and return around 3 March. Tracking of 60 birds from four colonies showed that they all spend the winter in the central and south Atlantic, off West Africa and southern Africa.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

IUCN (2018): Least Concern, with a population estimated to be declining slowly. The world population is about 285,000 to 446,000 mature individuals (142,478 to 222,886 pairs). The decline is estimated at about 2% over three generations (1980 to 2038), based on data from only 6% of the population. Zembra Island, Tunisia, holds the largest colony, about 113,720 to 176,750 pairs. In Europe there were 30,500 to 48,100 pairs in the latest assessment cited by IUCN (2015). Bycatch on longlines and introduced rats are named as the main threats. The species is very rare in British and Irish waters, with only 21 BTO records. It was split from Cory's shearwater, so records filed under this scientific name in some databases can include Cory's shearwater, and the country list is a guide only.