Short-tailed Shearwater

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Short-tailed Shearwater Ardenna tenuirostris

Status : Fairly common

Distribution : Mainly migration visitor off the Pacific coast of Middle-Northern Honshu and Hokkaido (mainly Apr-July), off the east coast of Hokkaido (summer-autumn), off the Sea of Japan coast of Honshu (mainly spring). Poorly known in the area off the Pacific coast and East China Sea coast of Western Honshu and Okinawa Pref. Uncommon but regularly seen around Japan in winter. They are seen in swarms of hundreds, at times thousands.

Tips : Mainly adults molting primaries are seen in Apr to May around Japan. The number of fresh juveniles begins to increase in May.

Fig. 1. Juvenile. Off Iwate Pref. 25th Jun 2023.

Fig. 2. Same bird as Fig. 1. Off Iwate Pref. 25th Jun 2023.

Fig. 3. Adult. Off Iwate Pref. 25th Jun 2023.

Fig. 4. Same bird as Fig. 3. Off Iwate Pref. 25th Jun 2023.

Fig. 5. Same bird as Fig. 3. Off Iwate Pref. 25th Jun 2023.

Fig. 6. Same bird as Fig. 3. Off Iwate Pref. 25th Jun 2023.

Fig. 7. Same bird as Fig. 1.Off Iwate Pref. 25th Jun 2023.

Fig. 8. Same bird as Fig. 1.Off Iwate Pref. 25th Jun 2023.

Fig. 9. Juvenile.

Fig. 10. Juvenile.

Fig. 11. Juvenile.

Fig. 12. Juvenile.

Fig. 13. Juvenile.

Fig. 14. Flight with Black-legged Kittiwake.

Fig. 15. Juvenile.

Fig. 16. Presumed molting juvenile to 1st.

Fig. 17. Off Shiriyazaki, Aomori Pref. 19th Oct 2019.

Fig. 18. Same bird as Fig. 17. Off Shiriyazaki, Aomori Pref. 19th Oct 2019.

Fig. 19. Presumed Adult. Off Shiriyazaki, Aomori Pref. 16th May 2020.

Fig. 20. Juvenile. Off Shiriyazaki, Aomori Pref. 17th May 2020.

Fig. 21. Juvenile with Sooty Shearwater (right). Off Kuji. 3rd Jun 2012.

Fig. 22. Flock of Adults.