Petrels & Shearwaters in Scotland
Our list for Scotland has 5 petrels & shearwaters recorded regularly there: 1 resident, 1 summer visitor and 3 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Scotland in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 5, most common first
FulmarFulmarus glacialisResidentCommon45–50 cmRecorded all year
Manx ShearwaterPuffinus puffinusSummer visitorUncommon30–38 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Sooty ShearwaterArdenna griseaPassage migrantUncommon40–51 cmRegularly Jul–Nov
Great ShearwaterArdenna gravisPassage migrantRare43–51 cmRegularly Aug–Sep
Balearic ShearwaterPuffinus mauretanicusPassage migrantRare35–40 cmRegularly Aug–Sep
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