Mutton-Bird

mutton-bird any of various species of seabirds, especially shearwaters (Puffinus griseus, P. tenuirostris), of the southern oceans, whose flesh is thought to taste something like mutton. Such birds were a popular food of the Maori in New Zealand, who used to pot them in their own fat, thus making a sort of antipodean confit. In the Seychelles, ‘salted wedged-tail shearwaters’ used to figure in certain traditional dishes, no longer made because the birds now have a measure of protection. Even now, mutton-birds are locally eaten in Tasmania where ready-roasted birds are marketed during the season.