Little Shearwater

Overview
Little Shearwater: Tiny shearwater, dark brown upperparts and white underparts; dark cap extends only to eye. Bill is short and black. Swims and dives for food, picks food off surface of water. Feeds on fish and squid. Flight is low, fast and straight, alternates rapid wing beats and banking glides.

Range and Habitat
Little Shearwater: Breeds on scattered islands on the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, roams widely in the Southern Hemisphere or eastern Atlantic Ocean in the nonbreeding season. Recorded three times on the Atlantic Coast of North America.

INTERESTING FACTS
The Little Shearwater is sometimes called Southern Little Shearwater to distinguish it from the North Atlantic Little Shearwater which was formerly included in this species. Despite the scientific name, this species is completely unrelated to puffins, which are auks, the only resemblance being that they are both burrow-nesting seabirds. It breeds in colonies on islands and coastal cliffs, nesting in burrows which are only visited at night to avoid predation by large gulls. A group of shearwaters are collectively known as an "improbability" of shearwaters.