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Muttonbird or mutton bird may refer to species of
petrel Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the phylogenetic order Procellariiformes. Description Petrels are a monophyletic group of marine seabirds, sharing a characteristic of a nostril arrangement that results in the name "tubenoses". Petrels enco ...
, especially
shearwater Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season. Description These tube ...
s, whose young are harvested for food and other uses before they
fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between egg, 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 vulnera ...
in Australia and New Zealand. The English term "muttonbird" originally emerged among settlers on
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...
as the strong taste and fattiness of these birds' meat was likened to mutton. The Māori 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 language, Māori name , and is harvested by Māori people for muttonbirding, muttonbird, l ...
, 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, nesting on Lord Howe Island


Places

* Mutton Bird Island, Tasmania, Australia ** South East Mutton Bird Islet ** South West Mutton Bird Islet * Titi/Muttonbird Islands, New Zealand


Music

* The Mutton Birds, 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 sin ...
, the capturing of muttonbird fledglings {{disambiguation, geo Animal common name disambiguation pages