Muttonbird

Muttonbirds are shearwaters whose young are collected for food and other uses before they fledge in Australia and New Zealand. The Māori name for the birds, tītī, is also widely used in New Zealand.

Species

The species most frequently called muttonbirds are:

• Short-tailed shearwater, nesting in south-eastern Australia, particularly in the Furneaux Islands
• Sooty shearwater, nesting mainly in New Zealand and islands in the South Atlantic Ocean
• Wedge-tailed shearwater, nesting throughout the tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans
• Flesh-footed shearwater, nesting on Lord Howe Island and now the victim of ocean plastic pollution.

Other uses

Places

The term has been applied to several islands where muttonbirds breed and are, or were, harvested:

• Mutton Bird Island Nature Reserve, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia
• 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 New Zealand
  • The Mutton Birds (album)

See also

• Muttonbirding, the capturing of muttonbird fledglings