Yelkouan shearwater

How it lives

Yelkouan shearwaters nest in burrows on islands and coastal cliffs, visiting only at night to avoid gulls. Breeding is from March to May, with a single egg each year (CIESM). A 2008 paper in Oryx identified 75 islands in 10 countries as certain or possible breeding sites. They are gregarious and can be seen in large groups from boats or headlands.

Where it goes

After breeding, many yelkouan shearwaters move to the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, while some stay in the Mediterranean all year (CIESM). Wikipedia adds that small numbers enter the Atlantic in late summer. Breeding colonies run from the Marseille islands in France to Bulgarian islands in the Black Sea.

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

Vulnerable (IUCN, 2018). Wikipedia says it was raised to Near Threatened in 2008 and Vulnerable in 2012, after research showed it was rarer than believed. CIESM gives 21,000 to 36,000 pairs, or 46,000 to 92,000 individuals. A 2008 Oryx paper argued that older estimates were probably too high and that the true global total could be only 5,899 to 9,409 pairs based on confirmed sites. It reported documented declines of 12 to 50 percent. Threats named include cats and rats on breeding islands, fishing bycatch, tourism and coastal development, and, per CIESM, urban light and marine pollution.