Appearance:

Small vulture with characteristic flight profile, and distinct plumage with white body, white coverts and black flight feathers (in adults). Long, wedge-shaped tail, but not longer than wings are broad (as opposed to Lammergeier). Wings square with broad, full hand (slightly pointed in Lammergeier). Small head with thin bill. At long distance plumage of adults slightly similar to White Pelican, White Stork and pale Booted Eagles, but note wedge-shaped tail. Immature birds dark brown with paler coverts. Despite the less distinct plumage, the silhouette is similar to adults. Noticeably more active wing flapping and quicker wing-beats than in the large vultures.

Sound:

Almost never heard. May emit different grunting sounds and a slightly mallard-like "ga ga ga ga ga ga ga".

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

Appearance:

Dark-bellied, long-billed shearwater with small head and elongated body. Wings long, narrow and pointed, with pale patches/bands underneath framed in dark base colour of body. Flight fast and powerful. In strong winds hand held pointing slightly backwards. The pale underwing is clearly visible in good light, but the whole bird often seems completely dark. Only shearwater in the region with completely dark underparts, except from dark individuals of the much smaller, and short-winged, Balearic Shearwater. The latter also shows deeper belly and less deep chest. At long distance, and/or bad weather, Sooty Shearwater may be confused with Arctic Skua or even young Gannets. Differs from Gannets by size, shorter neck and no white rump patch. Told from Skuas by bursting series of stiff wing-beats with alternating glides.

Sound:

Mostly heard at breeding ground. A peculiar, rhythmic, coarse moaning, with a disyllabic attack, followed by a deeper, cooing "in-breath".

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

CC-photo:pablo_caceres_c, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Jon. D. Anderson, Licence,Link.

Sounds:Creative Commons,www.xeno-canto.org,sjonnoh,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/