Flesh-footed Shearwaters are often seen on the boat trip to Tiri.

This large, bulky chocolate-brown bird has a pale bill which is darker at the tip and flesh-pink legs and feet.  The main call is a series of high-pitched moans, resembling the sound of cats fighting.

The diet is mainly squid and fish.  Food is also scavenged from around whales, dolphins and recently from behind boats which can lead to their untimely death.

In New Zealand Flesh-footed Shearwaters breed in dense colonies on off shore islands as far south as Cook Strait.  Breeding is between November and May after they return to their colonies in late September to early October.  The single white egg is usually laid in a burrow and is incubated by both parents for about 53 days.  The chick fledges at about 92 days old.

With the spread of introduced predators these birds survive best on islands without mammalian predators.

New Zealand birds migrate to the North Pacific Ocean to over winter.

Photography by:  Ian Southey ©

References: Heather, B.D.; Robertson, H.A. 2000 The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Auckland, Viking.
Moon, G The Reed Field Guide to New Zealand Birds.