Scopoli's shearwater

Scopoli's shearwater
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Calonectris
Species: C. diomedea
Binomial name
Calonectris diomedea
(Scopoli, 1769)

Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) is a bird in the Procellariidae family formerly considered conspecific with Cory's shearwater (Calonectris borealis). It has no subspecies.[2] The genus name Calonectris comes from Ancient Greek kalos, "good" and nectris, "swimmer". The specific diomedea refers to Diomedes, the mythical king. His wife was serially unfaithful while he fought at Troy, so he left to found a city in Italy. When he eventually died, his distraught friends were turned into white seabirds.[3] The English name is for Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli who first described the species.

Range

Calonectris diomedea breeds across the Mediterranean; on Minorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Cabrera, Conillera and Dragonera in the Balearics; on the Îles d'Hyères in France; on Elba, small islands off Sardinia and Sicily, Pantelleria and Lampedusa in Italy; In Malta; on coastal Croatian islands and parts of the mainland; on Kythira, Kolpos and the Cyclades in Greece.[4]
The majority of the population spends the non-breeding season in the Atlantic, including areas off the west coast of Africa and east coast of Brazil.[5]

Diet

Diet is mostly squid, which are obtained mainly by surface-seizing. It is regularly attracted to trawlers to feed on offal.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Birdlife International (2014). "Calonectris diomedea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Loons, penguins, petrels". International Ornithological Congress. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
  3. ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 86, 136, 267. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ↑ "Calonectris diomedea range map". International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
  5. 1 2 "Calonectris diomedea". International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
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