Muttonbird or mutton bird may refer to species of
petrel
Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes.
Description
The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...
, especially
shearwater
Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae
The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwa ...
s, whose young are
harvested for food and other uses before they
fledge
Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight.
This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnerable c ...
in Australia and New Zealand. The English term "muttonbird" originally emerged among settlers on
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...
as the strong taste and fattiness of these birds' meat was likened to mutton. The
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
name for the birds, ''tītī'', is also widely used in New Zealand.
Species of bird
*
Short-tailed shearwater
The short-tailed shearwater or slender-billed shearwater (''Ardenna tenuirostris''; formerly ''Puffinus tenuirostris''), also called yolla or moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird in Australia, is the most abundant seabird species in A ...
, nesting in south-eastern Australia, particularly in the Furneaux Islands
*
Sooty shearwater
The sooty shearwater (''Ardenna grisea'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand, it is also known by its Māori name , and as muttonbird, like its relatives the wedge-tailed shearwater (''A. pacificus' ...
, nesting mainly in New Zealand and islands in the South Atlantic Ocean
*
Wedge-tailed shearwater
The wedge-tailed shearwater (''Ardenna pacifica'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and ...
, nesting throughout the tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans
*
Flesh-footed shearwater
The flesh-footed shearwater (''Ardenna carneipes''; formerly ''Puffinus carneipes'') is a medium-sized shearwater. Its plumage is black. It has pale pinkish feet, and a pale bill with a distinct black tip. Together with the equally light-billed p ...
, nesting on Lord Howe Island
Places
*
Mutton Bird Island, Tasmania, Australia
**
South East Mutton Bird Islet
South East Mutton Bird Islet is a steep unpopulated islet located close to the south-western coast of Tasmania, Australia. Situated south of where the mouth of Port Davey meets the Southern Ocean, the islet is one of the eight islands that ...
**
South West Mutton Bird Islet
*
Titi/Muttonbird Islands, New Zealand
Music
*
The Mutton Birds
The Mutton Birds were a New Zealand rock music group formed in Auckland in 1991 by Ross Burge, David Long and Don McGlashan, with Alan Gregg joining a year later. Four of their albums reached the top 10 on the New Zealand Albums Chart ...
, band from Auckland
**
''The Mutton Birds'' (album)
See also
*
Muttonbirding
Muttonbirding is the seasonal harvesting of the chicks of petrels, especially shearwater species, for food, oil and feathers by recreational or commercial hunters. Such hunting of petrels and other seabirds has occurred in various locations since p ...
, the capturing of muttonbird fledglings
{{disambiguation, geo
Animal common name disambiguation pages