Species of Concern
Pink-Footed Shearwater
Puffinus creatopus
About This Species
A pelagic seabird best seen well offshore along the Pacific coast from California to Chile, typically on dedicated boat trips rather than from land, gliding low over the water on stiff wings between feeding dives. It associates loosely with fishing activity and mixed seabird flocks, so trips that follow working boats or upwelling zones improve the odds. Passage is strongest outside its narrow breeding season, which runs on a small number of Chilean islands.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- This is a globally vulnerable species that breeds on only a handful of Chilean islands threatened by introduced predators, so the priority is never approaching or landing near a breeding colony, which is legally protected and typically restricted to researchers.
- At sea, boats should maintain a steady, predictable course and avoid crowding feeding rafts or following an individual bird closely.
- Because protection status and enforcement differ between its breeding range in Chile and its non-breeding range further north, defer to the operator's or reserve's specific guidance rather than a general rule of thumb.
VUAvesProcellariiformesProcellariidae
Seasonal Activity
180,207 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Procellariidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.