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  1. Species
  2. ›
  3. Procellariidae
  4. ›
  5. Ardenna
  6. ›
  7. Great Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Photo · ALAN SCHMIERER from southeast AZ, USA

BirdUp · Species

Great Shearwater

Ardenna gravis(O'Reilly, 1818)

Updated 21 March 2026

Origin: Native
Order
PROCELLARIIFORMES
Family
Procellariidae
Genus
Ardenna

At a glance

The Great Shearwater, native to Australia.

Origin
Native
  • Identification
  • Where

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

The great shearwater is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It breeds colonially on rocky islands in the south Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely in the Atlantic.

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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02 · Where

Where to find it

Where does the Great Shearwater live in Australia?

The Great Shearwater is native to Australia.

BreedingKidney I. (Falkland Is.), Nightingale, Inaccessible and Gough (Tristan da Cunha group; south-central Atlantic Ocean)

Non-breedingTo south Atlantic off coasts of south South America and south Africa, and north to temperate and Arctic North Pacific Ocean to south coasts of Greenland and north-west Europe

Distribution from BirdUp Australia community data

Legend

  • Vagrant

3 regions recorded