Cory's Shearwater

Status Uncommon summer visitant. It undoubtedly occurs with greater frequency than our few inshore records indicate. It is regularly seen off Sable Island, at the outer edges of the southern Scotian Shelf and on Georges Bank, all waters influenced by the Gulf Stream. However, on 29 August 1979 a flock of eight birds was observed close inshore as far north as Scatarie Island (R.G.B. Brown). Its usual season off Nova Scotia is from June to October (earliest 19 June; latest 19 October); the largest numbers off Sable Island occur in August and early September.

Description Length: 46 - 56 cm. All plumages: A large shearwater with broad wings and heavy body; medium brown above, white below; dividing line between brown and white on the face and neck blurred, not crisp as in the Greater Shearwater; often has white uppertail coverts; bill yellow, noticeably long and stout.

Range The subspecies Calonectris diomedea borealis, recorded off eastern North America, nests from Portugal and the Azores to the Canary Islands. Other subspecies breed in the Cape Verde archipelago and in the Mediterranean.

Remarks Adult Cory's Shearwaters dwell in colonies in the eastern Atlantic from May to October. The birds that visit us then are presumably immatures. Banding returns suggest that the birds winter off South Africa and Argentina, migrate up the west side of the Atlantic and pass through our waters en route to the eastern Atlantic.

Like all shearwaters, Cory's Shearwaters glide effortlessly over the sea, close to the surface of the water, on stiffly held wings.