Petrels & Shearwaters in France
Our list for France has 5 petrels & shearwaters recorded regularly there: 3 summer visitors and 2 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in France in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 5, most common first
Balearic ShearwaterPuffinus mauretanicusSummer visitorUncommon35–40 cmRegularly May–Dec
Manx ShearwaterPuffinus puffinusSummer visitorUncommon30–38 cmRegularly Apr–Nov
Sooty ShearwaterArdenna griseaPassage migrantUncommon40–51 cmRegularly Jul–Nov
Great ShearwaterArdenna gravisPassage migrantUncommon43–51 cmRegularly Jul–Oct
FulmarFulmarus glacialisSummer visitorUncommon45–50 cmRecorded all year
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Manx Shearwater 30–38 cm
- Balearic Shearwater 35–40 cm
- Sooty Shearwater 40–51 cm
- Great Shearwater 43–51 cm
- Fulmar 45–50 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made