Gray-backed shearwater

Adults birds are 46-47 cm in length, with a 97-99 cm wingspan, and have been recorded to weigh 342-425 g. The upperside of Buller's Shearwater is bluish grey. A blackish stripe runs from the tertiary remiges to the primary wing coverts. The primary remiges are blackish also; the two black areas do not meet at the hand however; the area between them is a rather light gray, under bright light it may appear almost white. With the bird facing upwards, the pattern gives the impression of a broken black M, with light gray interspersing areas.

The Gray-backed shearwater is classified as Vulnerable (VU), considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

The Gray-backed Shearwater in waters of the U.S.S.R. Gray-backed tern. Gray-backed tern Sterna lunata. Gray-backed tern Sterna lunata breeding on Anatahan, commonwealth of the northern Mariana Islands. Gray-backed terns eat lizards. Wilson. Gray-blue sclerae and osteopenia secondary to osteogenesis imperfecta. The Gray-breasted Crake (Laterallus exilis) in Costa Rica: vocalizations, distribution, and interactions with White-throated Crakes (L. albigularis). More

Until recently the Gray-backed Shearwater was regarded as one of the rarest of all petrels in collections. The example upon which Salvin founded the species was discovered on a New Zealand beach by Sir Walter Buller, in 1884. During the next thirty-eight years only a few more specimens were obtained, and then Mr. R. A. More