Abstract

This short paper reports the occurrence of a melanistic Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris borealis off the Isles of Scilly in August 2024, summarises the seven documented records to date of melanistic Cory’s Shearwater, and presents an overview of the main separation criteria for the confusion species White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis, Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes, Wedge-tailed Shearwater A. pacifica and Pink-footed Shearwater A. creatopus.