Yelkouan Shearwater
The yelkouan shearwater, Levantine shearwater or Mediterranean shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus).
Hear it on xeno-canto Community recordings — opens xeno-canto →In Türkiye
Recorded in Türkiye throughout the year.
Most records in December–February.
Provinces where it makes up the largest share of bird records.
Adjusted for how many birdwatchers are out each month; the busiest month = 100%.
5,972 records from Türkiye · #154 of 634 species by number of records. Source: GBIF.org (October 2026). All birds of Türkiye
About
The yelkouan shearwater was formally described in 1827 by the Italian naturalist Giuseppe Acerbi from specimens collected in the Bosphorus, Turkey. He placed the shearwater in the genus Procellaria and coined the binomial name Procellaria yelkouan. The yelkouan shearwater is now placed in the genus Puffinus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name Puffinus is Neo-Latin based on the English "puffin". The specific yelkouan is the Turkish word "wind chaser" for a shearwater. The yelkouan shearwater is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Manx shearwater. After the first split, it was the nominate subspecies of the so-called "Mediterranean shearwater" for nearly ten more years; it is considered a monotypic species now, as the Balearic form mauretanicus has been separated as the Balearic shearwater.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
At a glance
Famous for the long single-file flocks that skim the Bosphorus surface; its Turkish name 'yelkovan' (sail-chaser) even names the clock's minute hand.
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