Sooty shearwater fact sheet

Ardenna griseus | Sooty shearwater

The sooty shearwater is a medium sized shearwater reaching a length of 40 -50 cm, with a weight of 650 – 950 g and a wingspan of 93 – 106 cm. They have a dark colouration with long, pointed wings. In low light they can appear black and in good light chocolate brown with a pale band on the underside of the wing center. The beak is dark and they feed on small fish, shrimps and other crustaceans, squid and jellyfish. They lay one egg at a time which is incubated for 53 days and fledging occurs after 97 days. Sooty shearwaters can live to be 34 years old. They can dive as deep as 68 m to catch fish and they often follow whales and dolphins.

In other languages

Portuguese: Perdela preta
Spanish: Pardela sombría
French: Puffin fuligineux
Italian: Berta grigia
German: Dunkle Sturmtaucher
Dutch: Grauwe pijlstormvogel
Swedish: Grålira
Norwegian: Grålire
Danish: – 
Finnish: Nokiliitäjä
Polish: Burzyk szary
Russian: Серый буревестник

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