Mediterranean shearwater

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mediterranean shearwater
Ma - Puffinus yelkouan.jpg

Mediterranean shearwater ( Puffinus yelkouan )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Tubular noses (Procellariiformes)
Family : Petrels (Procellariidae)
Genre : Puffinus
Type : Mediterranean shearwater
Scientific name
Puffinus yelkouan
( Acerbi , 1827)
Mediterranean Shearwater - The Egg.

The Mediterranean shearwater ( Puffinus yelkouan ) is a species of bird from the family of the petrels Procellariidae.

description

Mediterranean shearwaters are medium-sized shearwaters . The body length is 34–39 cm, the wingspan 78–90 cm. The entire upper side is blackish brown, the hand wing is a little darker than the rest of the upper side of the wing. The underside is sharply set off, mostly monochrome white. The tips of the wings, the tail band and a diagonal band on the under wing coverts are dark in color. Flanks, axillary feathers, under tail and under wing coverts can show brownish areas to different extents.

Systematics

No subspecies are recognized today. The Balearic Shearwater , which was previously listed as a subspecies of the Mediterranean Shearwater, has been listed as a separate species ( Puffinus mauretanicus ) since 2004 .

distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to the Mediterranean region , the exact distribution is still largely unknown. Mediterranean shearwaters breed on rocky, barrier islands or in remote mainland areas. Usually they do not fly higher than ten meters above the water surface. Large concentrations of this species can occur where small fish collect. Outside the breeding season, the Mediterranean shearwater migrates widely in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea region .

Existence and endangerment

The world population was estimated at 14,700–52,000 breeding pairs in 2004, the European breeding population at 13,000 to 33,000 breeding pairs. The world population could therefore include around 100,000 individuals. According to BirdLife, this number is highly speculative as long as there is no even approximate exact information about the population of Turkey. BirdLife gives 1,000–30,000 breeding pairs as a very rough estimate for this population. Besides Turkey, Italy has the largest population, where it is estimated that between 7,000 and 14,000 pairs breed.

According to BirdLife International , the Mediterranean shearwater is endangered by rats and feral domestic cats. The seabirds also perish as bycatch in fishing nets and from longline fishing . Because of its extremely low breeding successes in several important breeding colonies, the IUCN has now classified it as a type of warning list ("Near Threatened").

literature

  • Michael Brooke: Albatrosses and Petrels across the World. Oxford University Press 2004, ISBN 0-19-850125-0 , p. 295.
  • Hans-Günther Bauer, Einhard Bezzel , Wolfgang Fiedler (eds.): The compendium of birds in Central Europe: Everything about biology, endangerment and protection. Volume 1: Nonpasseriformes - non-sparrow birds. Aula-Verlag Wiebelsheim, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-89104-647-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b L. Svensson, PJ Grant, K. Mullarney, D. Zetterström: The new cosmos bird guide. Kosmos, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07720-9 , pp. 22-23.
  2. ↑ a b c d e BirdLife International (2011) Species factsheet: Puffinus yelkouan . (Online, accessed March 3, 2011)
  3. ↑ Bauer et al., P. 222
  4. ↑ BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Puffinus yelkouan . at www.birdlife.org (accessed May 30, 2010)
  5. ↑ Puffinus yelkouan in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2011. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2010. Accessed November 16, 2011th

Web links

  • Videos and photos of Yelkouan Shearwater ( Puffinus yelkouan ) at The Internet Bird Collection (IBC) (accessed May 30, 2010)