Birds of North Carolina
their Distribution and Abundance
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
PROCELLARIIDAE Members:
General Comments
In 2010, the American Ornithologists' Union changed the common name of Greater Shearwater to Great Shearwater, matching the common name used in Europe, and making more "sense", as there is no "Lesser Shearwater" [there is a Little Shearwater]. This shearwater, like the Sooty, breeds on islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean during our winter months and makes the many thousand-mile post-breeding flight northward in our spring, to winter in waters off the United States and Canada during our summer months. It is one of the reasonably common species that birders can hope to, or expect to, see on pelagic trips into the Gulf Stream during the warmer months. Unlike most other tubenoses, however, this species undergoes periodic die-offs in our waters, usually in midsummer, when dead and dying birds can be seen along the beaches.
Breeding Status
Nonbreeder
NC BRC List
The species' status on the List of Bird Species of North Carolina: either Definitive, Provisional, or Extinct, as administered by the NC Bird Records Committee. The Provisional List contains species for which there are less than three accepted sight (i.e., non-documented) records. Species of unaccepted origin are not included on the List of Bird Species of North Carolina.
Definitive
State Status
none
U.S. Status
Definitive
State Rank
S3N
Global Rank
G5
Coastal Plain
Offshore visitor, mainly to the Gulf Stream. Generally fairly common, to at times common in midsummer, off Oregon and Hatteras inlets, mid-May to early Nov; peak counts from late Jul to early or mid-Sep; very rare in winter, with at least 17 records mid-Dec to mid-Feb, mostly off Cape Hatteras. From shore, rarely seen, though uncommon at Cape Hatteras Point in the latter half of May. However, there are a few huge counts from Cape Hatteras Point: 5,532 on 2 Jul 2022 during Tropical Storm Colin; 1,800 on 31 May 1970; 1,799 on 7 Jun 2022 following Tropical Storm Alex; 700 on 1 Jun 1970; and 375 on 17 Sep 2024. A count of 155 from Fort Macon SP (Carteret) on 18 Jun 2017 was excellent for a locale south of Cape Hatteras. Notable was one seen on a spoil island where Brown Pelicans nest in the lower Cape Fear River (Brunswick) on 17 Jun 2014. Peak counts offshore: 867, on 16 Aug 2025; 753, on 25 Aug 1997; 602, on 5 Aug 2023; 427, off Hatteras, 28 Aug 2020; 420, on 26 Jun 1984. Accidental inland, during and after hurricanes: 5, Lake Waccamaw (Columbus), 14 Sept 1974 (after Hurricane Diana).
Piedmont
No records.
Mountains
No records.
Finding Tips
***
This shearwater is best seen by taking a chartered birding trip to the Gulf Stream off Oregon or Hatteras inlets. It is often missed on May trips, but most Jun and Jul trips find a few. It is regular in Aug, but it becomes iffy by mid-Aug. Numbers on a given trip are almost always much fewer than Cory's, with counts of 5 to 20 being typical.