Shearwaters

Shearwaters are birds that spend most of their life flying over vast, windy stretches of the ocean. They must have a variety of ways of dealing with the stresses and demands of such an existence, especially when it comes to drinking fresh water. Shearwaters are remarkable in their adaptations. Most species have long narrow wings designed for gliding and soaring. To watch these graceful birds "shearing" the wavetops with their stiff-winged, seemingly effortless flight, is to witness a true natural wonder.

H2O Captain Eco-Tour Private Boat Excursions take out many different types of passengers including, film crews (both national and international), photographers, artists, real estate agents with their clients, as well as ornithologists (wildlife biologists who study birds). Of course, the vast majority are visitors to the area who wish to explore our beautiful waterways, and barrier islands, discover GREAT shelling and look for the famous wild horses.

In preparation for writing this blog, I spoke with an ornithologist asking him to contribute to this article specifically 1 or more of his great catalogs of photos. He said, he would enjoy doing that, but, as they live at sea and do not ever come to land, he had, sadly, no photos.

As it turns out Captain Mark of H2O Captain found a shearwater on land! Sadly, this was because the bird was ill and dying. The Captain took a few photos, seen here, to send to the Cape Lookout National Seashore National Park Service. There was no explanation of why this one or others were dying or already had passed.

These beautiful sea-going birds' characteristic tubular nostrils located on top of the bill serve as a means of expelling saline solution from their large salt glands, located internally near the eye sockets. The salt glands allow these birds to drink seawater without any harmful effects since their kidneys cannot produce concentrated urine. The horny structure of the exterior nostrils protects the internal nasal passageway from the irritating salt spray and serves as an opening to their very efficient olfactory organs. Shearwaters have an excellent sense of smell, which they use to find food, burrows, and other birds of their species.

These seabirds have oily, waterproof feathers and a dense undercoat insulating down. Their webbed feet help them swim and are also used to patter upon the ocean surface in search of floating bits of food.

The strong bill has a food-grabbing hook on the end, and the typical dark or dark-and-light plumage helps them blend into a monochromatic landscape.

The shearwaters have a distinctive musky odor arising from their stomach oils, which are used as food for their young, as a defensive weapon (squirted when needed), and as additional waterproofing for their feathers.

If you are out at sea, look for these beautiful and healthy birds!

Photo Courtesy of H2O Captain Eco-Tour Private Boat Excursions