Sooty Shearwater Ardenna grisea / Puffinus griseus

Sooty Shearwater Ardenna grisea
(aka Puffinus griseus)
Chilean name: Fardela negra

Chacao-Pargua Ferry, Chiloe, Chile
November 2005

The Sooty Shearwater breeds in southern Chile and on islands off Australia and New Zealand. Outside the breeding season they migrate to the North Atlantic and North Pacific mainly moving in a clockwise direction before heading south again for the austral summer.

At a distance it looks black but is, in fact, dark brown. It is a medium-sized shearwater with narrow wings and a pointed looking tail. The underwings have a whitish patch as can be seen in photo 2 but this can be difficult to see in certain lights.

They nest in burrows in large colonies and are the most abundant dark shearwater in southern Chile.

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