Puffinus subalaris
Silhouette: Juan Carlos Jerí · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The Galápagos shearwater (Puffinus subalaris) is a small shearwater. Until recently it was considered to be a subspecies of Audubon's shearwater, but it is actually one of two members of a very ancient lineage of the small Puffinus species, the other being, as indicated by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data, the Christmas shearwater.
It is an endemic breeder of the Galápagos Islands, and is largely sedentary, although individuals are commonly seen as far as the Oaxacan coast of Mexico. The Galápagos shearwater has dark brown upperparts, undertail and underwing flight feathers, the rest of the underparts plumage being white. It sometimes has a dark collar. Both sexes are alike, as are the young after fledging.
It is a slender-bodied shearwater, about 29–31 cm long, with a wingspan of around 63 cm and weighs 123-225 g. The species closely resembles the tropical shearwater, although the latter is typically blacker and has a longer tail.
The Galápagos shearwater is a gregarious species and will feed at sea with other shearwaters and boobies. It flies low over the water and feeds on squid, fish and offal. It intersperses 4-10 stiff wing beats with shallow... Wikipedia →
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Ecuador · 2016
© Richard Hoyer · XC326283 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
No species of the same family or order lives in Marino Ballena National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other birds.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Galápagos Shearwater sighting in Marino Ballena National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 257th most-seen of the 303 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Galápagos Shearwater in Marino Ballena National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to August, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Galápagos Shearwater sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Galápagos Shearwater sightings, Marino Ballena National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Galápagos Islands (Ecuador, about 50%) and Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve (Costa Rica, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Galápagos Shearwater is recorded against all the birds logged in Marino Ballena National Park (12 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
