Birds of North Carolina
their Distribution and Abundance
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
PROCELLARIIDAE Members: Cory's Shearwater 113
General Comments
The Cory's Shearwater is the largest of the shearwaters in North Carolina waters and is one of the most commonly seen species for much of the year on pelagic trips to the Gulf Stream. Numbers tend not to exaggerate as much from trip to trip as most other species, and it is practically never missed on such a trip in the warmer months. In addition, as with our other shearwaters, it can at times be seen from shore, especially from Cape Hatteras Point in late spring immediately after strong easterly winds, or at times right after a hurricane. Though it is typically associated with the warm Gulf Stream waters, small number do range into cooler inshore waters, but only during the warmer months.

NOTE: In 2024, the American Ornithological Society split off the "Scopoli's" subspecies (C. diomedea) from Cory's Shearwater. Thus, a small portion of the numbers of Cory's mentioned below included some individuals of the now Scopoli's Shearwater (see that species account).

Breeding Status
Nonbreeder
NC BRC List
Definitive
State Status
none
U.S. Status
Definitive
State Rank
S4N
Global Rank
G5
Coastal Plain
Offshore visitor, mainly to the Gulf Stream. For the combined subspecies: common and easily seen on most pelagic trips off Oregon and Hatteras inlets, from early May into Nov; less often seen elsewhere offshore, as the Gulf Stream is farther from shore and less time can be spent there on a given one-day trip. No midwinter records, but one was noted 8 Mar 1979 off Oregon Inlet. From shore, normally rare, but there are a few huge counts for Cape Hatteras Point: 8,850, on 28 Oct 1974; 6,127, on 7 Jun 2022; 3,915, on 8 Jun 2022; 3,600, on 31 May 1970; 1,400 on 1 Jun 1970; 1,312 on 5 Jun 2021; 742, on 21 Jun 2023; and 479, on 28 May 1993. Peak counts away from this cape: 75, from Cape Lookout (Carteret), 6 Jun 2023. Peak counts offshore: 6,219, off Hatteras Inlet, 7 Aug 1999; 3,000, off Oregon Inlet, 12 Aug 1995. Casual inland, during and after hurricanes: 1-2, Lake Waccamaw, 13-15 Sep 1984 (after Hurricane Diana); 2, Neuse River at New Bern, 27 Aug 1998 (after Hurricane Bonnie); 1, Neuse River at New Bern, 16 Sep 1999 (after Hurricane Floyd); and 1, Buckhorn Reservoir, Wilson, 1 Sep 2006 (after Tropical Storm Ernesto).
Piedmont
No records.
Mountain
No records.
Finding Tips
This species is a gimme on pelagic trips that reach the Gulf Stream off the Outer Banks from late May into Oct. Numbers in the low hundreds are often seen, and it or Wilson's Storm-Petrel are generally the two most often seen birds in the Gulf Stream. You can often find a few Cory's if you take a headboat out of Morehead City or Wrightsville Beach, but this species is not even guaranteed on such trips.