Buller’s Shearwater

Buller’s Shearwater in flight showing the dorsal wing pattern and long tail.
Buller’s Shearwater in flight showing the dorsal wing pattern and long tail.

Buller’s Shearwater (Puffinus bulleri) is a large/medium endemic seabird that breeds only at the Poor Knights Islands off the eastern coast of Northland New Zealand. They have a long slender, hooked beak typical of shearwaters and are significantly larger than the Fluttering Shearwaters we looked at last week.

Focus stacked image of a Buller’s and Fluttering Shearwater in the Firth of Thames to show the relative sizes.
Focus stacked image of a Buller’s and Fluttering Shearwater in the Firth of Thames to show the relative sizes.
Buller’s Shearwater photographed on the Firth of Thames off Te Puru.
Buller’s Shearwater photographed on the Firth of Thames off Te Puru.

They are attractive birds with grey/brown and white patterned plumage.  They have a V pattern over the upper wings reminiscent of the pattern seen on Prions. They are common in the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty but after the breeding season disperse to the northern Pacific east of Japan and off California. Their conservation status is listed as Naturally Uncommon. They are easy to identify due their size and plumage pattern and are often seen with flocks of Fluttering Shearwater and Fairy Prion feeding at workups of Kahawai or Trevally feeding on krill, baitfish or salps. To my eye they seem to have a front-heavy appearance.

Buller’s Shearwater resting on the Hauraki Gulf.
Buller’s Shearwater flying over the Firth of Thames showing the white ventral surface.
Buller’s Shearwater flying over the Firth of Thames showing the white ventral surface.

Buller’s Shearwaters are another example of species recovery after eradication of pests from their breeding islands. Pigs were released onto New Zealand mainland and islands by Captain Cook to provide a food source. Their rooting behaviour devastated habit of burrow breeding seabirds. Despite this Buller’s Shearwaters clung on at their breeding site of the Poor Knights but their population dropped into the 1000s in the early 20th century. Pigs were eradicated for the Poor Knights in 1936 and the Buller’s Shearwaters have bounced back with 1980’s population estimates being 2.5 million birds with over 200 000 breeding pairs. The Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust have been working on an updated population assessment and results should be available in the near future.

Buller’s Shearwater skimming low over the Hauraki Gulf.
Buller’s Shearwater skimming low over the Hauraki Gulf.
Close-up of Buller’s Shearwater showing the tube nostrils of a Procellariformes and the long slender, hooked beak of a shearwater.
Close-up of Buller’s Shearwater showing the tube nostrils of a Procellariform and the long slender, hooked beak of a shearwater.
Another close-up flight shot of Buller’s Shearwater showing the complete white undersurface.
Another close-up flight shot of Buller’s Shearwater showing the complete white undersurface.
Buller’s Shearwater preening some breast feathers after taking off from the Hauraki Gulf.
Buller’s Shearwater preening some breast feathers after taking off from the Hauraki Gulf.

All photos with Nikon D500, Firth of Thames images with Nikon 300mm f4PF + TC14 teleconverter, Hauraki Gulf images with Nikon 500mm f5.6PF lens.

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