Short-tailed shearwater

How it lives

They nest in burrows about 1 m long, in colonies on islands and coasts of southern and eastern Australia, from September to April. Tasmania has about 11.4 million burrows in 209 known colonies, and the largest colony, on Babel Island, has about 3 million. A single egg is laid in late November and incubated for about 53 days. It hatches in the third week of January. Each parent feeds the chick for 2 to 3 days, then leaves for up to three weeks to find food. The adults leave in early April and the chicks fledge in early May.

Where it goes

Short-tailed shearwaters breed in burrows around southern Australia, mostly in Tasmania and Bass Strait. In April the adults leave and fly north through the western Pacific. They spend the northern summer off the Aleutian Islands and Kamchatka, and return in spring across the Pacific. The Tasmanian government puts the yearly trip at 15,000 to 17,000 km. Birds are back at the colonies in late September or early October.

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

Least Concern globally (IUCN, 2018). The Tasmanian government says about 18 million birds arrive in Tasmania each year, and Audubon gives more than 20 million overall. Audubon also notes recent declines in some regions. About 200,000 chicks are harvested in Tasmania each year under seasonal controls, according to the Tasmanian government. Threats named include plastic eaten by mistake, fishing gillnets, feral predators and artificial lights.