Great Shearwater
(Puffinus gravis)

Overview

Summary

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Great Shearwaters breed on a few remote islands in the central south Atlantic and migrate north along the east coasts of South and North America. It is thought that the entire world population spends the non-breeding season in the northwest Atlantic, between Georges Bank and southern Greenland (Brooke 2004). In Canada, the species is regularly detected on pelagic surveys from spring through fall, capturing both overwintering and migrating birds. However, monitoring results are not available to determine any change in population status relative to about 1970. Canada’s conservation responsibility for the Great Shearwater is very high given the high percentage of the world’s population that use Canadian waters during the non-breeding season. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Great Shearwaters have formed an important resource for Tristan Islanders in the remote south Atlantic for the past 150 years, where eggs and chicks are harvested at the Nightingale Island colony, sometimes numbering up to 100,000 chicks annually (Richardson 1984). This species is reported to drown on long-lines off Tristan da Cunha and Brazil (Cuthbert 2005), and is also reported as bycatch in Canadian fisheries (Hedd et al. 2015). Great Shearwaters have also suffered starvation from the ingestion and subsequent obstruction of food passage from plastics (Pierce et al. 2004). The impact of these sources of mortality on the global population status is unknown. The Eastern Canada Seabirds at Sea (ECSAS) Monitoring Program provides current data and information on Great Shearwater abundance and distribution in Canadian waters during their non-breeding season. These data provide critical information for environmental assessments related to offshore developments, emergency response related to oil spills, risk assessments, marine protected area planning, and other management and conservation initiatives.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Brooke, M. 2004. Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 518 pp.
• Brown, R.G.B. 1986. Revised Atlas of Eastern Canadian Seabirds. Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario. 111 pp.
• Cuthbert, R.J. 2005. Breeding biology, chick growth and provisioning of Great Shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) at Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Emu 105:305-310. Cuthbert, R.J. 2005. Breeding biology, chick growth and provisioning of Great Shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) at Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Emu 105:305-310. (Link)
• Fifield, D.A., K.P. Lewis, C. Gjerdrum, G.J. Robertson, and R. Wells. 2009. Offshore Seabird Monitoring Program. Environment Studies Research Funds Report No. 183. Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada, Atlantic Region. St. John's, Newfoundland. 68 pp. Fifield, D.A., K.P. Lewis, C. Gjerdrum, G.J. Robertson, and R. Wells. 2009. Offshore Seabird Monitoring Program. Environment Studies Research Funds Report No. 183. Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada, Atlantic Region. St. John's, Newfoundland. 68 pp. (Link)
• Hedd, A., P.M. Regular, S.I. Wilhelm, J.-F. Rail, B. Drolet, M. Fowler, C. Pekarik, and G.J. Robertson. 2015. Characterization of seabird bycatch in eastern Canadian waters, 1998–2011, assessed from onboard fisheries observer data. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. doi:10.1002/aqc.2551. Hedd, A., P.M. Regular, S.I. Wilhelm, J.-F. Rail, B. Drolet, M. Fowler, C. Pekarik, and G.J. Robertson. 2015. Characterization of seabird bycatch in eastern Canadian waters, 1998–2011, assessed from onboard fisheries observer data. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. doi:10.1002/aqc.2551. (Link)
• Pierce, K.E., R.J. Harris, L.S. Larned, and M.A. Pokras. 2004. Obstruction and starvation associated with plastic ingestion in a Northern Gannet Morus bassanus and a Greater Shearwater Puffinus gravis. Marine Ornithology 32:187-189. Pierce, K.E., R.J. Harris, L.S. Larned, and M.A. Pokras. 2004. Obstruction and starvation associated with plastic ingestion in a Northern Gannet Morus bassanus and a Greater Shearwater Puffinus gravis. Marine Ornithology 32:187-189. (Link)
• Richardson, M.E. 1984. Aspects of the ornithology of the Tristan da Cunha Group and Gough Island, 1972-1974. Cormorant 12:122-201. Richardson, M.E. 1984. Aspects of the ornithology of the Tristan da Cunha Group and Gough Island, 1972-1974. Cormorant 12:122-201. (Link)