biology

Streaked shearwater

Streaked shearwater is a biology 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 Streaked shearwater rather than just read about it. In short: The streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) is a species of seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It is native to the Western Pacific and ranges from Japan to Australia.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) is a species of seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It is native to the Western Pacific and ranges from Japan to Australia.

Description This shearwater has broad wings with a brown upperside and white underwings. The head and neck are flecked white to almost complete white. The face and underparts are all white. The bill is grey to pink with a dark tip while the feet are pinkish-grey.

Streaked shearwaters have a body length (from tip of bill to end of tail feathers) of 45 to 52 centimetres (18 to 20 in) and a wingspan between 103 and 113 centimetres (41 and 44 in).

Distribution This species is pelagic, but is also found in inshore waters. It occurs in the Pacific Ocean, nesting in Japan and the Korean Peninsula, predominantly on their offshore islands. After breeding, the streaked shearwater migrate south, feeding in the seas off northern New Guinea, the Arafura Sea, and the South China Sea. Calonectris leucomelas have also been reported well off the west coast of the United States, from the southern coast of India, and from New Zealand. There is also a record of a specimen collected in Wyoming.

Ecology The streaked shearwater feeds mainly on fish and squid. It follows fishing boats, attracted to anchovy crawls off Japan and has been known to be taken as by-catch in nets or drowned when ingesting the bait on long-line fishing lines. The streaked shearwater nests in burrows. It prefers forested hills. This bird is abundant and widespread; however, some mortality occurs through becoming entangled in fishing nets, and from some predation by cats and rats. In addition, it is harvested by some traditional endemic human cultures.

Notes

References

Further reading Dunn, Jon L. (2017). National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. ISBN 978-1-4262-1835-4. Seabirds, an Identification Guide by Peter Harrison, (1983) ISBN 0-7470-1410-8 Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 1, Josep del Hoyo editor, ISBN 84-87334-10-5

External links

BirdLife species factsheet Oiseaux photo

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Streaked shearwater

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Streaked shearwater claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, 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 Streaked shearwater 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 Streaked shearwater 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 Streaked shearwater

In research: Streaked shearwater appears in biology 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 Streaked shearwater 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: Streaked shearwater is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Birds described in 1835, Birds of Japan, Birds of Palau, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Streaked shearwater 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 Streaked shearwater in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Streaked shearwater 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 Streaked shearwater out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Streaked shearwater in simple terms?

The streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) is a species of seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It is native to the Western Pacific and ranges from Japan to Australia.

Why does Streaked shearwater matter?

Because it connects several biology 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 Streaked shearwater?

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 Streaked shearwater.