Townsend's Shearwater

Townsend's Shearwater, Puffinus auricularis, is a rare seabird of the tropics from the family Procellariidae.

The Townsend's Shearwater is classified as Critically Endangered (CR), facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

Townsend's Shearwater, Puffinus auricularis, is a rare seabird of the tropics from the family Procellariidae. Its relationships are unresolved. Its closest relatives are probably but not certainly the Hawaiian Shearwater (Puffinus newelli) and possibly the Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) (Austin, 1996; Austin et al., 2004). It formerly contained the former as a subspecies and was long considered a subspecies of the latter. The relationship of the Rapa Shearwater, P. More

Townsend's Shearwater Puffinus auricularis Species Champion Become a BirdLife Species Champion for this bird For information about BirdLife Species Champions and Species Guardians visit the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme. More

and possibly Townsend's Shearwaters seem to be somewhat closely related to the Manx Shearwater (Austin 1996); the former Puffinus puffinus "superspecies" has turned out to be a number of more or less distantly related lineages. However, including the extinct forms listed below, at least the Mediterranean taxa do apparently constitute a superspecies in their own right, and maybe the New Zealand ones also. More

Townsend's Shearwater (Puffinus auricularis) is currently comprised of two subspecies: the nominate race (Puffinus a. auricularis) that breeds on the Islas Revillagigedos off western Mexico, and P. a. newelli (“Newell’s” Shearwater) that breeds on Kauai and perhaps other islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. The Newell’s subspecies is thought to remain in Hawaiian waters from April through October. More

Townsend's Shearwater at CAS match the neck pattern of the upper Newell's shown by Jehl. Manx Shearwaters also match the pattern of Townsend's (although the neck sides of the latter are perhaps slightly blacker), and we consider neck pattern of no use in distinguishing these three forms. More

Townsend's Shearwater Puffinus auricularis = Described by: Townsend, C. H. (1890) Alternate common name(s): Revillagigedo Shearwater, Revilla Gigedo Shearwater, Newell's Shearwater, Hawaiian Shearwater Old scientific name(s): Puffinus newelli Photographs No photographs are available for this species Range Ce. Pacific Ocean off w. Mexico; C. Pacific Ocean; Two populations; (1) Revillagigedo Is. (Clarion, Socorro Is. and, at least formerly San Benedicto Is. More

Townsend's Shearwater breeds in the Revillagigedo Islands and disperses along the continental shelf from southern Baja California Sur to Central America (Howell and Webb 1995). Newell's Shearwater breeds only in the main Hawaiian Islands but disperses after breeding mostly east and south of Hawaii into the Equatorial Coun- tercurrent (Spear et al. 1995). Newell's favors warm, deep tropical waters (Ainley et al. More

Townsend's Shearwater, Pardela de Revillagigedo, Puffin de Townsend, Townsend's Shearwater Direct Children: Subspecies Puffinus auricularis auricularis C. H. More

Townsend's Shearwater is very similar but has dark undertail-coverts, a shorter tail and a less sharp boundary between the black and white on the face. Systematics It was described as a new species Puffinus newelli in 1900 by the American ornithologist Henry Wetherbee Henshaw using specimens obtained by Brother Matthias Newell from residents of Maui. It was later included by some authors in the Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) as was Townsend's Shearwater (Puffinus auricularis). More