The Yelkouan Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan, from Turkish word "Yelkovan" which means wind-chaser and is used for shearwater group) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae; the name "Levantine Shearwater" has also been used for this species.

It and Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) were until recently regarded as conspecific, under the name "Mediterranean Shearwater", and both species were once lumped with Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus).

Yelkouan Shearwater breeds on islands and coastal cliffs in the eastern and central Mediterranean. Most winter in that sea, but small numbers enter the Atlantic in late summer.

This species nests in burrows which are only visited at night to avoid predation by large gulls.

Yelkouan Shearwater is 30-38 cm long, with a 76-89 cm wingspan. It has the typically "shearing" flight of the genus, dipping from side to side on stiff wings with few wingbeats, the wingtips almost touching the water. This bird looks like a flying cross, with its wing held at right angles to the body, and it changes from very dark brown to white as the dark upperparts and paler undersides are alternately exposed as it travels low over the sea.

Yelkouan Shearwater has a more contrasted appearance than Balearic Shearwater with which its winter range overlaps, since the latter species is brown above and dirty white below. Yelkouan is very similar to the black-and-white Manx Shearwater of the Atlantic, and birds out of range are very difficult to identify with certainty.

This is a gregarious species, which can be seen in large numbers from boats or headlands, especially on in autumn. It is under some threat from the development of holiday resorts near its breeding sites, and also from animals such as cats and rats. The Yelkoan Shearwater feeds on fish and molluscs. It does not follow boats.

It is silent at sea, but at night the breeding colonies are alive with raucous cackling calls, higher pitched and more drawn out than Manx.

References

• Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Seabirds by Harrison, ISBN 0-7470-8028-8

Shearwaters

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