(Part of the) common name of certain species of the family Procellariidae (order Procellariiformes) of typical petrels and shearwaters, and in the plural a general term for these. For more general information see 'petrel(s)'. Shearwaters comprise a group of some15 species distributed throughout the oceans, which are usually dark above and white below or uniformly dark. Most species have very complex migration patterns between feeding areas in the same or even opposite hemispheres. A division can be made into two groups with different flight and feeding adaptations: 1) the aerial form which is adapted for soaring flight and feeds from the surface at the middle of the oceans, has long wings and legs, and a long wedge-shaped tail, and 2) the aquatic form with shorter wings, tails and legs, adapted for the capture of fish by diving in offshore waters.

Alternative form for shearwaters : shearwater.