Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world. Chris Packham presents the wedge-tailed shearwater of the Indian and Pacific oceans. Wedge-tailed shearwaters are large sepia brown seabirds with long wings and streamlined bodies. They feed mainly on fish and squid which they scoop from the surface or catch by diving. While the parents are careering over the open seas, their solitary chick squats alone in its island burrow. The return of the adults means a welcome feast for the chick. Its reward is a mouthful of warm and waxy stomach oil, the digested remains of the adults prey. It may sound revolting to us, but this oil is rich in energy and allows the chick to grow even bigger than its parents before losing weight again prior to its first flight, which happens a few weeks after the adult birds have abandoned it to its fate.