Calonectris is a genus of seabirds. The genus name comes from Ancient Greekkalos, "good" and nectris, "swimmer".
The genus comprises four large shearwaters. There are two other shearwater genera, Puffinus, which comprises 21 small to medium-sized shearwaters, and Ardenna with 7 larger species.[1][2][3]
The species in this group are long-winged birds, dark brown or grey-brown above, and mainly white below. They are pelagic outside the breeding season. They are most common in temperate and cold waters. Like most other tubenose birds, they use a shearing flight technique to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight, but fly with a more relaxed, fluid, flexible wing action than the other shearwaters in Puffinus and Ardenna.[4]
Calonectris shearwaters are long-distance migrants. The streaked shearwater disperses from its east Asian breeding islands throughout the western Pacific and into the eastern Indian Ocean. They come to islands and coastal cliffs only to breed. They are nocturnal at the colonial breeding sites, preferring moonless nights to minimise predation. They nest in burrows and often give eerie contact calls on their night time visits. They lay a single white egg. They feed on fish, squid and similar oceanic food. They will follow fishing boats to take scraps.
Taxonomy
The genus Calonectris was introduced in 1915 by the ornithologists Gregory Mathews and Tom Iredale with the streaked shearwater as the type species.[5] The genus name combines the Ancient Greekkalos meaning "good" or "noble" with the genus name Nectris that was used for shearwaters by the German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl in 1820. The name Nectris comes from the Ancient Greek nēktris meaning "swimmer".[6][7]
Scopoli's shearwater and Cory's shearwater were previously considered as conspecific and formed the Cory's shearwater complex (Calonectris diomedea). Based on the lack of hybridization and differences in mitochondrial DNA, morphology and vocalisation, the complex was split into two separate species. The English name "Cory's shearwater" was transferred to Calonectris borealis while what was previously the nominate subspecies became Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea).[8][1]
Breeds on Madeira, the Azores, the Canary Islands and the Berlengas islands off the Portuguese coast. Forages in the Atlantic between 60°N and 36°S; also marginally into the western Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean off South Africa.
Breeds on Mediterranean islands. Forages in the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic between 50°N and 36°S; also marginally into the Indian Ocean off South Africa.
^Penhallurick, John; Wink, Michael (2004). "Analysis of the taxonomy and nomenclature of the Procellariformes based on complete nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene". Emu. 104 (2): 125–147. Bibcode:2004EmuAO.104..125P. doi:10.1071/MU01060. S2CID83202756.
^del Hoyo, Josep (2020). All the birds of the world. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. p. 201. ISBN978-84-16728-37-4.
^Olson, Storrs L. (2009). "A new diminutive species of shearwater of the genus Calonectris (Aves: Procellariidae) from the Middle Miocene Calvert Formation of Chesapeake Bay". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 122 (4): 466–470. doi:10.2988/09-19.1. S2CID86663993.
Harrison, Peter (1987): Seabirds of the World: A Photographic Guide. Princeton University Press, Princeton. ISBN0-691-01551-1
Heidrich, Petra; Amengual, José F. & Wink, Michael (1998): Phylogenetic relationships in Mediterranean and North Atlantic shearwaters (Aves: Procellariidae) based on nucleotide sequences of mtDNA. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology26(2): 145–170. doi:10.1016/S0305-1978(97)00085-9PDF fulltext
