High prevalence of parental delivery of plastic debris in Cory's shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea)

► We studied plastic ingestion by shearwater fledglings stranded by light pollution. ► Eighty three percent of birds were affected, containing on average 8 plastics per bird in their guts. ► Numbers of plastic items and mass of plastic loads varied annually. ► Body condition and body size were not related to the amount of ingested plastic. ► Fledglings stranded by light pollution are a good model to monitor marine debris.