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Pink-footed Shearwater | Ardenna creatopus
Chileense grote pijlstormvogel | Pardela pata rosada
The Pink-footed Shearwater breeds on a few islands off the coast of Chile and after the breeding season migrates north along the west coast of the Americas, to off California and Canada. The guide area lies on this migration route: off the Pacific coast of Baja California the species is regularly seen from spring to autumn, further south mainly as a passage migrant.
Voice
Usually silent at sea; sometimes screeching or harsh sounds at food. In the colonies moaning calls at night.
Recording: Ignacio Escobar — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
48 cm, a large, heavily built shearwater with broad wings and a fairly short, rounded tail. The upperparts are uniformly grey-brown, the underparts white with a grey-brown wash on head, breast sides and flanks and a dark undertail. The underwing is whitish with broad, diffuse dark margins. The bill is pink with a dark tip, the legs are pink. Flies calmly and heavily, with slow beats and long glides.
Confusion species
Light morph Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica is slimmer, with a thin, dark grey bill, a long, pointed tail and cleaner white underparts. Black-vented Shearwater Puffinus opisthomelas is much smaller, with a dark bill and a quick, fluttering flight. Light Northern Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis are stockier, with a short, thick yellow bill and a grey tail.
Habitat
Open sea and especially the continental shelf, often where cool, nutrient-rich water wells up. Takes fish and squid at the surface or in short dives, and feeds with groups of dolphins and behind fishing boats. Breeds in burrows in forest and on vegetated slopes on islands.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
Mainly off the Pacific coast of Baja California, usually over the continental shelf. Further south along the Pacific coast to Panama a scarcer passage migrant in spring and autumn, mainly far offshore. Its distribution at sea is known mainly from records made from ships and is therefore incomplete. Outside the guide area the species breeds only on the Juan Fernández Islands and Isla Mocha off Chile, and outside the breeding season migrates north to off California, Oregon and British Columbia.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Pelagic trips off the west coast of Baja California from spring to autumn offer the best chance. The pink bill with a dark tip, the grey-brown wash on the underparts and the heavy, calm flight are the best features.
Conservation status
Vulnerable. The world population is small and breeds on only a few islands. Threats are bycatch in longline and net fisheries along the west coast of the Americas and introduced predators on the breeding islands; on Isla Mocha chicks were also harvested in the past.
Scientific name
Ardenna creatopus | (Coues, 1864) (GBIF: Puffinus creatopus)
Coues described the species in 1864 as Puffinus creatopus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Ardenna was introduced in 1853 by Reichenbach. Ardenna goes back to Artenna, the spelling the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi used for a seabird in 1603 and which Reichenbach cited when naming the genus. creatopus is Greek, from kreas, kreatos 'flesh' and pous 'foot': 'flesh-footed', after the pink feet. The specimen the first description was based on came from San Nicolas Island, California.