science

Muttonbirding

Muttonbirding is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Muttonbirding rather than just read about it. In short: 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 since prehistoric times, and there is evidence that many island populations have become extinct as a result.

Key takeaways

Muttonbirding belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Muttonbirding to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Muttonbirding from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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 since prehistoric times, and there is evidence that many island populations have become extinct as a result. More recently ‘muttonbirding’ usually refers to the regulated and sustainable harvesting of shearwaters in Australia and New Zealand. These include the short-tailed shearwater, also known as the yolla or Australian muttonbird, in Bass Strait, Tasmania, as well as the sooty shearwater, also known as the tītī or New Zealand muttonbird, on several small islands known as the Muttonbird Islands, scattered around Stewart Island in the far south of New Zealand.

Australia Licensed commercial harvesting of short-tailed shearwater chicks on the coast and islands of Tasmania began in 1903, although it had long been a traditional form of subsistence harvesting by Aboriginal Tasmanians and European settlers there. However, by the late 20th century the industry was declining due to falling demand for the product and reduced interest by younger Indigenous people in the main area of activity, the islands of the Furneaux Group.

New Zealand

The harvesting of sooty shearwater chicks on 36 islands, known as the Tītī or Muttonbird Islands, around Rakiura (Stewart Island), is managed entirely by Rakiura Māori, with about 250,000 being harvested each year. There is some evidence that this harvest has been occurring since at least the 17th century.

Muttonbirds Muttonbird may refer to various seabirds, particularly petrels in the genus Puffinus, called shearwaters, where the young birds are harvested for food and oil by being extracted by hand from the nesting burrows before they fledge. The English term "muttonbird" originally emerged among settlers on Norfolk Island as the strong taste and fattiness of these birds' meat was likened to mutton. Others have compared it to fish or seafood in flavour. Some species are:

Short-tailed shearwater, a seabird that nests in south-eastern Australia, particularly in the Furneaux Group of islands in eastern Bass Strait Sooty shearwater, a seabird that nests mainly in New Zealand and islands in the South Atlantic Ocean Wedge-tailed shearwater, found throughout the tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans Manx shearwater, breeding in the North Atlantic region, was harvested in historical times Cape Verde shearwater, breeding in the Cape Verde archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean, has declined because of over-harvesting Grey-faced petrel (Pterodroma gouldi) Providence petrels, harvested to extinction on Norfolk Island in the early 19th century but still existing on Lord Howe Island, were known as 'muttonbirds' or 'flying sheep'

See also Faroese puffin Petrels Duck Waterfowl hunting

References

Further reading Adam-Smith, Patsy. (1965). Moonbird People. Rigby: Adelaide. (About the Furneaux group of islands in Bass Strait, the muttonbirds that inhabit them and the people who make their living from them).

External links Keep the Titi Forever Migration of sooty shearwater from New Zealand to the north Pacific – TerraNature article Muttonbird recipes Muttonbirding in New Zealand Stop muttonbird slaughter – AACT article A Seaweed Pantry – Tales from Te Papa Episode 100 – A short YouTube video about muttonbirding

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Muttonbirding

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Muttonbirding claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Muttonbirding before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Muttonbirding ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Muttonbirding

In research: Muttonbirding appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Muttonbirding in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Muttonbirding is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bird mortality, Fowling, Game birds, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Muttonbirding outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Muttonbirding in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Muttonbirding means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Muttonbirding out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Muttonbirding in simple terms?

Why does Muttonbirding matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Muttonbirding?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Muttonbirding.