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Sooty Shearwater
Ardenna grisea
species of Procellariidae

number longest
primary 10 per wing approx. 215.5mm n=1
P9 (100%)
secondary 21-22 per wing approx. 96.0mm n=1
S1 (100%)
retrix 12
approx. 102.0mm n=1
R1 (100%)
wing length1 hand-wing-index1,2 (HWI) primaries-index wing length/longest primary ratio hand-wing-index/primaries-index ratio
289 - 304mm n=5 55 - 65% n=4 55 - 55% n=1 no data available no data available
detailed information

The wing length is measured on the flattened and straightened wing ("maximum chord") from the carpal joint to the tip of the longest primary feather, the so-called "Kleinschmidt-method".

combined data from:
Avonet1: 289 - 304mm n=5

The hand-wing-index, introduced by Kipp 1959, is calculated as the ratio of the hand length (difference between the length of the longest primary and the first secondary) to the wing length.

combined data from:
Avonet1: 55 - 65% n=4,
The primaries-index is calculated as the ratio of the longest primary feather length to the first (outermost) secondary. It is the equivalent of the hand-wing index for feather measurements. The wing length/longest primary ratio is calculated as the ratio of the wing length to the length of the longest primary feather. The hand-wing-index/primaries-index ratio is calculated as the ratio of the hand-wing index to the primaries-index.
1 Tobias, J. A., et al. (2022). AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds.
2 Kipp, Friedrich A.: "Der Handflügel-Index als flugbiologisches Maß", erschienen in "Vogelwarte - Zeitschrift für Vogelkunde", 1959, Band 20, Heft 1



country allocations

extant

Algeria (vagrant) · American Samoa (vagrant) · Angola (origin uncertain) · Anguilla (origin uncertain) · Antarctica · Antigua and Barbuda (origin uncertain) · Argentina · Australia · Bahamas (origin uncertain) · Barbados (vagrant) · Belgium (vagrant) · Benin (origin uncertain) · Bermuda · Bouvet Island (origin uncertain) · Brazil · Cabo Verde (vagrant) · Cameroon (origin uncertain) · Canada (origin uncertain) · Chile · China (vagrant) · Colombia (origin uncertain) · Congo (origin uncertain) · Congo, The Democratic Republic of the (origin uncertain) · Costa Rica · Côte d'Ivoire (origin uncertain) · Cuba (vagrant) · Denmark · Dominica (origin uncertain) · Ecuador (origin uncertain) · Egypt (vagrant) · El Salvador (origin uncertain) · Equatorial Guinea (origin uncertain) · Falkland Islands (Malvinas) · Faroe Islands (origin uncertain) · Fiji · Finland (vagrant) · France · French Guiana (origin uncertain) · French Polynesia (vagrant) · French Southern Territories (origin uncertain) · Gabon (origin uncertain) · Gambia (origin uncertain) · Germany (origin uncertain) · Ghana (origin uncertain) · Gibraltar (vagrant) · Greenland · Guadeloupe · Guatemala (vagrant) · Guinea (origin uncertain) · Guinea-Bissau (origin uncertain) · Guyana (origin uncertain) · Heard Island and McDonald Islands (origin uncertain) · Iceland (origin uncertain) · Ireland · Israel · Italy (vagrant) · Jamaica (vagrant) · Japan (origin uncertain) · Jordan · Kiribati (origin uncertain) · Latvia (vagrant) · Lebanon (vagrant) · Liberia (vagrant) · Madagascar (origin uncertain) · Malta (vagrant) · Marshall Islands · Martinique (vagrant) · Mauritania (vagrant) · Mexico · Micronesia, Federated States of (origin uncertain) · Morocco (origin uncertain) · Mozambique (origin uncertain) · Namibia (origin uncertain) · Nauru (origin uncertain) · Netherlands (origin uncertain) · New Caledonia (origin uncertain) · New Zealand · Nigeria (vagrant) · Norfolk Island (origin uncertain) · Norway (vagrant) · Oman (vagrant) · Panama · Peru (origin uncertain) · Poland (vagrant) · Portugal · Puerto Rico (vagrant) · Russian Federation · Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (vagrant) · Saint Lucia (vagrant) · Saint Pierre and Miquelon · Sao Tome and Principe (vagrant) · Senegal (origin uncertain) · Sierra Leone (origin uncertain) · Solomon Islands (origin uncertain) · South Africa (origin uncertain) · South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (origin uncertain) · Spain · Sri Lanka (vagrant) · Suriname (origin uncertain) · Svalbard and Jan Mayen (vagrant) · Taiwan, Province of China (vagrant) · Togo (origin uncertain) · Tonga (origin uncertain) · Trinidad and Tobago (vagrant) · Tunisia (vagrant) · Turks and Caicos Islands (origin uncertain) · Tuvalu (origin uncertain) · United Arab Emirates (vagrant) · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland · United States Minor Outlying Islands (origin uncertain) · United States of America · Uruguay (origin uncertain) · Vanuatu (origin uncertain) · Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of (origin uncertain) · Virgin Islands, British (origin uncertain) · Virgin Islands, U.S. (vagrant) · Wallis and Futuna (origin uncertain) · Western Sahara (origin uncertain) ·
source: IUCN 2025. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2025-1 <www.iucnredlist.org>
assessment data: |

Albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters

conservation status

  • CITES
    not listed
  • Regulation (EG) Nr. 865/2006
    not listed
  • German Federal Nature Conservation Act §44
    protected