93. Cory's Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea)

Cory's Shearwater is our largest shearwater, being around the size of a Lesser Black-backed Gull and quite heavily built. It has long, flexible wings, held bowed in flight, which it undertakes in a more leisurely fashion compared to the other Shearwaters. It breeds on rocky islands in the Mediterranean and east Atlantic, and most birds winter in the south Atlantic, but in late summer/early autumn birds often turn up north of their breeding range around the coast of western Europe. The very similar Scopoli's Shearwater is considered by some to be a subspecies of Cory's Shearwater and by others to be a separate species; Scopoli's has more extensive white and a narrower dark border at the tip of its underwing than Cory's.

Cory's Shearwater, ©ah_kopelman, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Cory's Shearwater sketch.

A bit crammed in today, the body is somewhat on the stubby side - I should have allowed more space!