A satellite-tagged Pink-footed Shearwater makes it home after 32 000 kilometres at sea

After travelling over 32 000 km during the last eight months, an ACAP-listed and Vulnerable Pink-footed Shearwater Puffinus creatopus bearing a satellite tag has returned to its breeding site on Isla Mocha, Chile.

A Pink-footed Shearwater emerges from its burrow on Isla Mocha; photograph by Jonathan Felis 

The bird had spent most of May-October in Baja California and off the coast of California in the USA. After its return the bird has been making localized foraging trips around Isla Mocha. The remaining nine birds tagged earlier this year in April had all lost their tags before returning to Chile.

Trans-equatorial migration route

Post-migration local movements

Read more on the 2015 migration of the 10 Pink-footed Shearwaters here.  Live movement data can be followed here.

The tracking study is a project of the U.S. Geological Survey and Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 December 2015