Sooty Shearwater

Habitat:

Seen offshore in Monterey Bay during pelagic birding trip

Notes:

In summer, hundreds of thousands of Sooty Shearwaters use the bay as a staging ground. They hold the record for the world’s longest bird migration, leaving their nesting colonies off New Zealand and traversing the entire Pacific Ocean in a figure-eight pattern. After arriving in the bay, they feast on the abundant resources while they molt their feathers and prepare for the nearly 20,000-mile journey home. On midsummer days when the west wind blows, the beach can be littered with the feathers of Sooty Shearwaters, as swarms of the birds feed offshore.