Puffinus lherminieri
Silhouette: Juan Carlos Jerí · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The Sargasso shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri) is a small tropical seabird in the petrel family. The only shearwater to nest primarily in the Caribbean, it ranges throughout the western Atlantic during the non-breeding season. Its specific epithet honours the French naturalist Félix Louis L'Herminier.
This bird is part of a species complex formerly known as Audubon's shearwater, or occasionally as dusky-backed shearwater. Most authors now separate this complex into a range of species including the Sargasso shearwater, tropical shearwater, Boyd's shearwater, Barolo shearwater, Bannerman's shearwater, and Persian shearwater. These small seabirds form a cryptic species complex which ornithologists have only recently begun to disentangle.
The Sargasso shearwater is on average 30 cm (12 in) in length—about half the size of the great shearwater (Puffinus gravis)—and weigh 170 g. There is some variation between populations, and the normal size and weight range is 30–33 cm (12–13 in) and 150–230 g (5.3–8.1 oz). The wingspan is 64 to 72 centimetres (25 to 28 in), the tail is around 8.5 centimetres (3.3 in) long, the exposed culmen measures 3 centimetres (1.2 in) or slightly... Wikipedia →
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Brazil · 2005
© Robson Silva e Silva · XC11370 · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Audubon's Shearwater sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 273rd most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Audubon's Shearwater in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Audubon's 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.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Audubon's Shearwater sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 3rd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (Panama, under 5%) and La Amistad International Park (Panama) (Panama, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Audubon's Shearwater is recorded against all the birds logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (5 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.
