Pink-footed Shearwater (Puffinus creatopus) photographed on the Cordell Bank off central California at the end of July 1998. Copyright Angus Wilson© 1999.
 

Identification

Bert McKee has raised the issue of melanistic (or dark variants) of Pink-footed Shearwaters being mistaken for Flesh-footed Shearwater. To read some thoughts on this click here.
 

Where and When

Breeding distribution confined to the Juan Fernandez Archipelago and the Isla Mocha both off the coast of central Chile. The shearwaters breed in forest from 150 m above sea-level to the tops of mountain ridges. Numbers are decreasing and the species is now classified as Vulnerable (Guicking, 1999). Threats include introduced mammals (through predation by Black and Brown Rats, coatis, feral cats and dogs or habitat damage by rabbits and goats) and perhaps most significantly by harvesting of young shearwaters for food. Although the breeding population on Isla Mocha is somewhere in the range of 13,000 to 17,000 nesting pairs, some 20% of the chicks are harvested each by local people. This is now illegal and there are effort to increase local awareness and pride in this important breeding species. Breeding birds feed in the Humbolt Current north of the breeding grounds, where they come into contact with the fishing industry and accidental mortality is documented.

Pink-footed Shearwater (Puffinus creatopus) photographed on the Cordell Bank off central California at the end of July 1998. Copyright Angus Wilson© 1999.
 

Photographs on the web

Adult on water Taken in August by Ryan Shaw
 

Literature

Daniela Guicking (1999) Pink-footed Shearwaters on Isla Mocha, Chile. World Birdwatch 21(1): p20-23.

Mazar Barnett, J., & J. R. Navas. (1998) [First record of the Pink-footed Shearwater Puffinus creatopus on Argentine coasts.] El Hornero 15(1): 43-44