Little Shearwater ID

[GarySetterfield]

Hi all,
I hope someone can help me out here. Earlier today while watching off Muriwai i saw 6 fairly distant shearwaters flying low over the water with very rapid wingbeats interrupted occasionally with quite irregular short glides. There was quite a plumage contrast showing black and white (not unlike Manx Shearwater, but not banking and rolling like Manx)
I had no size comparison (except big waves!) but they just "felt" small.
I'm 70 percent sure they were Little Shearwaters but with no previous experience i'm hoping someone can answer a couple of questions for me.
1/ I thought Little shearwaters were solitary but has anyone seen any flocks/small groups? and if so is it common?
2/ The flight was obviously shearwater-like but unlike anything i've seen before. Can it be attibuted to windy conditions or is the flight quite diagnostic?
3/I know they breed on islands in the gulf but are they regularly seen off the west coast in spring? or.....
4/ am i barking up the wrong tree, got it completely wrong and need a slap round the head.
Thanks, Gary.
Ps They were not Diving Petrels.

[Rewi]

I see you've obtained your usual level of help on this one Gary!
I can only offer general comments, from my limited experience of the species at sea.
Please note that the observations are my own personal impressions of the species, so if
my views don't match the identification rules suggested by books or better birdwatchers
than myself, I apologise:

Little Shearwater do look very black and white, but most noticeably on the head/face.
The face appears very white, as the 'cap' doesn't come down to the eye like most shearwaters,
but curves over the top of the face, making it look like the cuddly cartoon pengiuns in the
recent Disney 'Happy Feet'. (you can see that my decriptions are very scientific! )
The face therefore stands out like a white blob at the front of the bird.
Also, the bird's attitiude in flight is sloping upwards towards the front. That's really noticeable.
The body slopes slightly along it's length, with the head looking as if it's being held up as
far as the bird can get it, as if it's craning it's neck to look over the next wave.
It's a bit like a plane coming in to land, with the fuselage tilted backwards, as it comes in to
touch down.
The flight is very direct, very fast, and usually very low. They flap almost as fast as Auks, and
go stright as a die, hardly ever 'towering'.
Six is a helluva lot to see together, expecially on the west coast, I would guess. I stand to be
corrected by someone who knows what they're talking about. I've seen three flying in a straight
line behind each-other within 40km of their breeding island.
I'd suggest trying to eliminate Fluttering Shearwater. They do look very black and white in good
direct sunshine, and I salute guys who can instantly seperate Manx/Huttons/Fluts.

Ok, that's the best I can offer. Hope you get some better opinions soon.
Rewi

[GarySetterfield]

Thanks Rewi i appreciate your help. Its funny you mention auks because that was something i was going to put in my original post.
I can't say i noticed a white "blobbed" face appearance or even a tilted flight appearance but this could be due to distance and the fact they kept disappearing in troughs. I must admit i was concentrating hard to stay on them rather than trying to pick out critical id features.
I can confidently rule out fluttering, there have been 1000s go through in the past three days and i find (as with most shearwaters) they have got a rather distinctive 'jizz' nothin like the six in question.
A few other bits and pieces have been moving on these westerlies including up to 5 Gibsons, 6 giant petrels, 8 arctic skuas plus flesh-foots and bullers shearwaters and a rather intriguing dark-winged pale bodied petrel that was whizzing around as if it was affected with ADHD or something. i was only on it for about 20 seconds or so before i lost it. Ah well,' the one that got away. Gary

[sav]

Rewi's comments pretty much endorsed. Six birds together would be quite unusual. The most obvious answer is that they were Flutterers, and wind conditions can make a huge difference to flight jizz. The fact that you thought they were something odd probably has value, but, if they were Little Shears, I think you would have noted the pale face - I guess you will never know until you have seen Little Shear in better conditions!

[sav]

Must have been typing at the same time, Gary. the "one that got away" sort of has to be a Soft-plumaged Petrel.

[Brent Stephenson]

So Gary,
Any comments on West vs East??
I'd endorse Sav's and Rewi's comments...Little in a pack unusual! And reckon it sounds like a softie...you'll get it next time...now after that last blow late last week would be a good time to be out. We had 4 cape petrels turn up in the Hauraki Gulf after it, as well as a wandering alb. There was about 4-5 white-capped albs, 3+ giant petrel (inc a southern) and a Wilson's petrel there before the blow though!
Cheers,
Brent