Sooty Shearwater

Puffinus griseus

Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Presence in the Strait: Migrant
Abundance: rare
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Pardela sombría

Photograph: Don Loarie, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 40–51 cm
Wingspan: 94–109 cm
Weight: 820 g

Presence in the Strait

Rare pelagic migrant that penetrates the Strait in very small numbers during post-nuptial dispersion from the South Atlantic to the North Atlantic. Sightings concentrated in September (13 birds), October (18) and November (1).

Identification

In poor light at a distance appears all dark. Long, narrow pointed wings with silvery-looking underwing pattern. May be confused with the Arctic Skua, the Balearic Shearwater or a juvenile Gannet.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

29 %

Peak in October. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 28 March 1990
Latest record: 21 October 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: NE · Not evaluated · wintering or migrating
Global Red List (IUCN): NT · Near threatened

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Great Shearwater43–51 cm · Occasional · overlapping size
Balearic Shearwater34–38 cm · Seasonal
Yelkouan Shearwater32–38 cm · Seasonal
Manx Shearwater30–38 cm · Vagrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
GBIF taxon key: 8249990

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Don Loarie, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Sooty Shearwater

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery