Petrels & Shearwaters in Wales
Our list for Wales 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 Wales in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 5, most common first
Manx ShearwaterPuffinus puffinusSummer visitorCommon30–38 cmRegularly Mar–Nov
FulmarFulmarus glacialisResidentCommon45–50 cmRecorded all year
Balearic ShearwaterPuffinus mauretanicusPassage migrantUncommon35–40 cmRegularly Jul–Oct
Sooty ShearwaterArdenna griseaPassage migrantRare40–51 cmRegularly Aug–Oct
Great ShearwaterArdenna gravisPassage migrantRare43–51 cmRegularly Aug–Oct
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