Balearic shearwater
Puffinus mauretanicus Lowe, 1921
The balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) is a species in the family Procellariidae, order Procellariiformes. Recorded adults weigh 444.5 g to 497 g and live up to 30 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Critically Endangered.
Quick facts about the balearic shearwater
- Weight
- 444.5 g – 497 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 30 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 50.9 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 51 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 4.5 years – 6.04 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the balearic shearwater live?
Not recorded
What is the balearic shearwater?
The Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. Puffinus is a Neo-Latin loanword based on the English "puffin" and its variants, that referred to the cured carcass of the fat nestling of the Manx shearwater, a former delicacy. The specific mauretanicus refers to Mauretania, an old name for an area of North Africa roughly corresponding to Morocco and Algeria. The Balearic Shearwater is listed critically endangered by the IUCN and is one of Europe's most endangered seabirds.
From the Wikipedia article “Balearic shearwater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balearic_shearwater&oldid=1383968265), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the balearic shearwater endangered?
The balearic shearwater is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Critically Endangered species. What the categories mean.
How is the balearic shearwater classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderProcellariiformes
- familyProcellariidae
- genusPuffinus
- SpeciesPuffinus mauretanicus Lowe, 1921
Synonyms Puffinus puffinus mauretanicus, Puffinus yelkouan mauretanicus
Other names and names in other languages (60)
- Mediterranean shearwaterEnglish
- Baleariese PylstormvoëlAfrikaans
- جلم ماء بيلركيArabic
- جلم ماء البليارArabic
- pardiella balearAsturian
- Балеарски буревестникBulgarian
- Tort gellBreton
- Virot PetitCatalan
- baldriga balearCatalan
- buřňák baleárskýCzech
- aderyn drycin BalearigWelsh
- BalearskråpeDanish
- BalearensturmtaucherGerman
- Balearen-SturmtaucherGerman
- Mittelmeer-sturmtaucherGerman
- Μύχος των ΒαλεαρίδωνGreek
- baleara pufinoEsperanto
- Pardela balearSpanish
- baleaari tormilindEstonian
- Gabai balearBasque
- Gabai balearraBasque
- کبوتر دریایی بالئاریPersian
- baleaarienliitäjäFinnish
- Puffin des BaléaresFrench
- BaleärenmokWestern Frisian
- Cánóg BhailéarachIrish
- Furabuchos balearGalician
- יסעור מערביHebrew
- Balearska burnicaCroatian
- baleári vészmadárHungarian
- Penggunting-laut balearicIndonesian
- BrúnskorfaIcelandic
- Berta balearicaItalian
- berta delle BaleariItalian
- ヨーヨッパミズナギドリJapanese
- ヨーロッパミズナギドリJapanese
- balearinė audronašaLithuanian
- mauritaninė audronašaLithuanian
- Baleāru vētrasputnsLatvian
- vale pijlstormvogelDutch
- BalearlireNorwegian
- Balearoinliidäiolo
- burzyk BalearskiPolish
- Burzyk popielatyPolish
- Fura-buchoPortuguese
- fura-bucho-das-balearesPortuguese
- pardela-balearPortuguese
- Pardela-do-mediterrâneoPortuguese
- балеарский буревестникRussian
- BalearasaddiNorthern Sami
- víchrovník baleárskySlovak
- balearski viharnikSlovenian
- Balearski zovojSerbian
- balearisk liraSwedish
- Balear yelkovanıTurkish
- буревісник балеарськийUkrainian
- Буревісник мавританськийUkrainian
- 巴利鸌Chinese
- 巴利鹱Chinese
- 巴里亞利克鸌Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the balearic shearwater
Other species in the same genus Puffinus.
Manx shearwater
Puffinus puffinus
Sargasso shearwater
Puffinus lherminieri
Little shearwater
Puffinus assimilis
Yelkouan shearwater
Puffinus yelkouan
Christmas shearwater
Puffinus nativitatis
Fluttering shearwater
Puffinus gavia
CompareBalearic shearwater vs Manx shearwaterBalearic shearwater vs Sargasso shearwaterBalearic shearwater vs Little shearwaterBalearic shearwater vs Yelkouan shearwater
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the balearic shearwater?
An adult balearic shearwater weighs 444.5 g – 497 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the balearic shearwater endangered?
The balearic shearwater is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
How long does the balearic shearwater live?
The balearic shearwater has a recorded lifespan of 30 years.
What kind of animal is the balearic shearwater?
The balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) belongs to the family Procellariidae in the order Procellariiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/balearic-shearwater
“Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/balearic-shearwater.
@misc{balearic_shearwater_2026,
title = {Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/balearic-shearwater},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}