Petrels, Shearwaters, and Diving Petrels
Short-tailed Shearwater
Ardenna tenuirostris
- Family
- Petrels, Shearwaters, and Diving Petrels (Procellariidae)
- Order
- Procellariiformes
Overview
The short-tailed shearwater or slender-billed shearwater (Ardenna tenuirostris), also called yolla or moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird both in early Australia and in New Zealand, is the most abundant seabird species in Australian waters, and is one of the few Australian native birds in which the chicks are commercially harvested. It is a migratory species that breeds mainly on small islands in Bass Strait and Tasmania and migrates to the Northern Hemisphere for the boreal summer.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Breeds islets off southern Australia, including Bass Strait and Tasmania; ranges to Antarctic ice edge waters, then to Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea (North Pacific Ocean).
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Short-tailed shearwater
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
