Manx Shearwater

Shearwaters are a group of about fifteen species of large sea birds and the Manx Shearwater grows to about fourteen inches long.

From earliest times man has known that birds could find their way through navigation and orientation over long distances. Scientist performed many experiments over time with birds taken from their breeding grounds and released some distance away. One example, a Manx Shearwater taken from its home on the Skokhohm Island in Wales and released in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Twelve and one half days later the Manx Shearwater appeared at its nest in Wales.

The Manx Shearwater inhabits many parts of the world. It inhabits Britain, The Mediterranean, New Zealand and off the south west coast of North America. The Manx Shearwater have nostril openings through horney tubes on top of the upper part of their bill. Their bill is long, deeply grooved and covered with horney plate and has a hooked beak so they can grasp and hold their prey.

It is a bird of oceanic existence fishing in shallow water rather than the open ocean. The Manx Shearwater's feet are webbed so they swim well and capture food beneath the surface of the water. Their legs are placed far back on the body for excellent swimming ability.

Their feathers are dense and waterproof. The bird colors are usually black above and white below or sometimes black all over. Their wings are long and narrow for efficient high speed gliding. Boaters see the shearwaters often in small groups gliding over the water with occasional wing beats tipping their body side to side as they follow the wind currents. They appear to "shear the water."

At about five years old the birds start to mate. They breed in colonies in burrows on off shore islands that most adult birds visit only at night. Some will nest in the hilly inland areas of the island. They breed in the Isle of Mona, in Scotland, in those of Fero and the Syllies. They also breed in Ireland, and other off shore places.

Usually the female lays only one egg and both the male and female incubates the eggs. The adult birds produce large amounts of oil in their stomach that are rich in Vitamin A and discharge it through their mouth. They feed their young ones extraordinary fat content in their regurgitated meals.

The main diet of the shearwater consists of zoo plankton, marine mollusks and fish according to species and conditions. On shore they will eat the waste parts of butchered animals. They capture their food both on and below the water's surface. The Manx Shearwater's main feeding area is in the Bay of Biscay on abundant sardines.

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