Scopoli's shearwater

Description:

Total body large 45-56 cm, 112-126cm wingspan and weight between 700-800g. Rose peak and grey head, brown back and white at the inferior parts, legs are rose.

Habitat:

Spotted during a boat trip at "Delta del Ebre", Catalonia, it 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. 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. The total population is about 280.000–420.000 individuals.

Notes:

Scopoli's shearwater is a bird in the Procellariidae family. Locally knowed as 'Baldriga cendrosa', 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. The English name is for Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli who first described the species.