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Story: Petrels

Sooty shearwater annual cycle

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September Return to New Zealand and prepare burrows Some birds ashore Eggs laid Eggs hatch Chick rearing Adults depart on migration Muttonbird season Chicks depart In the north Pacific October November December January February March April May June July August

This table shows sooty shearwaters’ activity month by month. Those that breed in New Zealand migrate to the subarctic convergence in the north Pacific.

Using this item

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Kerry-Jayne Wilson, Flight of the huia. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2004, p. 247

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How to cite this page

Kerry-Jayne Wilson, Petrels – Shearwaters, Procellaria and fulmarine petrels, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/8584/sooty-shearwater-annual-cycle (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Kerry-Jayne Wilson, published 2 March 2009.