Audubon's shearwater
Audubon's shearwater | |
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off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Procellariiformes |
Family: | Procellariidae |
Genus: | Puffinus |
Species: | P. lherminieri
|
Binomial name | |
Puffinus lherminieri Lesson , 1839 | |
Subspecies | |
About 10, see text | |
Synonyms | |
Puffinus assimilis lherminieri Lesson, 1839 |
Audubon's shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri) is a common
Certain populations are known variously as Baillon's shearwater, tropical shearwater, Bannerman's shearwater, Mascarene shearwater and Persian shearwater; some of these are considered distinct species by various authors.
Description
Audubon's shearwaters are on average 30 cm (12 in) in length—about half the size of the
The upperparts,
Males and females look alike. Immature birds do not have a distinct plumage, while the nestlings are covered with down feathers, grey above and whitish on the belly.[2]
It can be confused with the Manx shearwater (P. puffinus), which has white undertail coverts and in direct comparison a longer bill. Other similar-looking species are usually completely allopatric, though the largely subantarctic little shearwater (P. assimilis) may occasionally range into waters where P. lherminieri is normally found. It has more white on the face and underwing, a smaller bill and greyish-blue feet.[2]
Its twittering calls and mewing are often only heard at night in the breeding colonies.
Range and ecology
If not split into several species, Audubon's shearwater ranges across the
It is adaptable as regards its preferred marine habitat; it can be found in
The species is
While some small populations are threatened, the species as a whole (in the present sense, i.e. unsplit) is not considered to be globally threatened.[6]
Systematics
Audubon's shearwater belongs to the Puffinus sensu stricto group of mid-sized and small shearwaters, which is related to the genus Calonectris. The taxonomy of this species is extremely confusing. It is occasionally listed as a subspecies of P. assimilis (the little shearwater), but they do not appear to be that closely related. Rather, P. lherminieri seems to belong to an ill-resolved clade also including such species as the little shearwater, the Manx shearwater (P. puffinus) or the black-vented shearwater (P. opisthomelas).[7]
The little-known Heinroth's shearwater (P. heinrothi) is sometimes considered a subspecies of either Audubon's or the little shearwater. Though it is likely to be another member of that close-knit group, its actual relationships remain uncertain due to lack of specimens.
Audubon's shearwater itself has around 10 subspecies. Several have at one time or another been suggested to constitute separate species. For example, the
The lherminieri clade (Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean)
- Puffinus lherminieri lherminieri Lesson, 1839 – breeds throughout the Caribbean, on the Bahamas and formerly on Bermuda; ranges throughout the Caribbean and up the North American Atlantic coast up to southern Canada, with vagrants having been recorded off north-eastern Canada.[2] A small breeding colony found in 1993 in the Itatiaia Islands off Vila Velha (Espírito Santo, Brazil) probably belongs to this subspecies.[4]Includes loyemilleri.
- Barolo shearwater, Puffinus baroli (Bonaparte, 1857) – breeds on the Azores and Canary Islands (east Atlantic); ranges throughout east Atlantic around (but mostly north of) the Tropic of Cancer.[2]
- Cape Verde Islands (east Atlantic); ranges throughout the east Atlantic around (but mostly south of) the Tropic of Cancer.[2]
The former two have more white on the face and bluish feet like the little shearwater, with which they were formerly placed[11] Many taxonomists consider both Boyd's and Barolo shearwaters distinct species, depending on whether biogeography and morphological differences or the genetic similarity are considered more significant, and what other lineages are considered distinct from P. lherminieri in a particular treatment. The southern Caribbean birds were separated as P. l. loyemilleri, but are not distinct.[8]
The persicus clade (West Indian Ocean)
- Persian shearwater, Puffinus lherminieri persicus Hume, 1837 – breeds on Khuriya Muriya Islands (Arabian Sea); ranges throughout the Arabian Sea.[2]
- Puffinus lherminieri temptator Louette & Herremans, 1985 – breeds on Mohéli (Comoros); ranges in W Indian Ocean around the northern end of Madagascar.[2]
These form another distinct clade as indicated by mtDNA sequences, and have for some time been proposed as a distinct species, Persian shearwater (P. persicus). From the molecular data alone, this seems fairly warranted, but the ranges of the two taxa are quite far apart, separated by forms of the third clade. It is quite obvious that on the basis of such contradicting data as presently available, no decision can be taken regarding the taxonomic status of these birds. Possibly, they do form a distinct species separated from the third clade by a different
If P. bailloni is accepted as a distinct species but P. persicus is not, then this latter group would have to be included in P. bailloni.[8]
The bailloni clade (Indian and Pacific oceans)
- Tropical shearwater, Puffinus lherminieri bailloni (Bonaparte, 1857) – breeds on Mascarene Islands (SW Indian Ocean); ranges throughout the SW Indian Ocean to the north of the Tropic of Capricorn, and vagrant birds seen off South Africa probably belong to this subspecies.[2] Includes atrodorsalis.
- Puffinus lherminieri dichrous Finsch & Hartlaub, 1867 – breeds throughout central Marianas) might be dichrous or bannermani.[12]
This group is the most confusing of all. The subspecies dichrous occurs in two areas which appear to be separated by the whole of
There appear to be no significant genetical or morphological differences between these birds, which is quite amazing given that the Pacific and Indian Ocean subpopulations must have been isolated for a fairly long time, and that no less than three unequivocally distinct subspecies (bailloni, persicus and temptator) occur within the range of Indian Ocean dichrous. On the other hand, the supposed species Mascarene shearwater (P. atrodorsalis) is inseparable morphologically and genetically from bailloni.
Clearly, some mechanism blocking gene flow is at work, but what this is exactly remains unknown – though as remarked above, separate breeding seasons seem a reasonable assumption and are tentatively supported by the available field data.[2] In addition, it is entirely mysterious why such a mechanism should apply in the rather limited and ecologically homogeneous north-western Indian Ocean range, but not in the ecologically more diverse and by far larger Pacific range of dichrous.
These unresolved problems notwithstanding, this clade – possibly including the preceding one – has been proposed to constitute a separate species, the tropical shearwater or Baillon's shearwater, Puffinus bailloni.[8]
Undetermined
- Marianas) might be dichrous or bannermani.[12]
- Puffinus lherminieri gunax Mathews, 1930 – breeds on Banks Islands of Vanuatu (SW Pacific); ranges throughout the SW Pacific between the equatorial region and the Tropic of Capricorn.[2] Might belong in dichrous; vagrants seen off Australia could belong to either taxon.
These taxa could not be included in the most recent studies due to lack of material. The case of gunax seems fairly straightforward – as certainly as this can possibly be said in the absence of new data, it belongs to the bailloni clade either as a distinct subspecies, or, more likely, as yet another synonym of dichrous.
The case of the more distinct bannermani, the range of which is
Footnotes
- . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Carboneras (1992)
- ISBN 978-0-691-14211-1.
- ^ a b c d Efe & Musso (2001)
- ^ The colony found off southern Brazil in 1993 was recorded to incubate in August; the young had left the nests in December (Efe & Musso, 2001).
- ^ BLI (2008)
- ^ Austin (1996), Heidrich et al. (1998), Austin et al. (2001). But see Penhallurick & Wink (2004) for an alternate view placing it closest to P. assimilis, and Rheindt & Austin (2005) for a critique of that analysis. Note that the four conflicting studies are all based on mtDNA cytochrome b sequences.
- ^ a b c d Austin et al. (2004)
- ^ Austin (1996), Austin et al. (2004)
- ^ Rheindt & Austin (2005)
- ^ Austin (1996), Heidrich et al. (1998)
- ^ a b Wiles et al. (2000)
- ^ E.g. Vaurie (1965)
References
- Austin, Jeremy J. (1996): Molecular Phylogenetics of Puffinus Shearwaters: Preliminary Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences. (HTML abstract)
- Austin, Jeremy J.; Bretagnolle, Vincent & Pasquet, Eric (2004): A global molecular phylogeny of the small Puffinus shearwaters and implications for systematics of the Little-Audubon's Shearwater complex. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2004)121[0847:AGMPOT]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract HTML fulltext without images
- Bull, John L.; Farrand, John Jr.; Rayfield, Susan & ISBN 0-394-41405-5
- Carboneras, Carles (1992): 69. Audubon's Shearwater. In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (eds.): ISBN 84-87334-10-5
- Efe, Márcio Amorim & Musso, Cesar Meyer (2001): Primeiro registro de Puffinus lherminieri Lesson, 1839 no Brasil [First record of Audubon's Shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri) for Brazil]. Nattereria 2: 21-23 [Portuguese with English abstract]. PDF fulltext
- Heidrich, Petra; Amengual, José F. & Wink, Michael (1998): Phylogenetic relationships in Mediterranean and North Atlantic shearwaters (Aves: Procellariidae) based on nucleotide sequences of mtDNA. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 26(2): 145–170.
- Penhallurick, John & Wink, Michael (2004): Analysis of the taxonomy and nomenclature of the Procellariiformes based on complete nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. doi:10.1071/MU01060(HTML abstract)
- Rheindt, F.E. & Austin, Jeremy J. (2005): Major analytical and conceptual shortcomings in a recent taxonomic revision of the Procellariiformes – A reply to Penhallurick and Wink (2004).
- Vaurie, C. (1965): The Birds of the Palearctic Fauna (Vol. 1: Non-Passeriformes). Witherby, London.
- Wiles, Gary J.; Worthington, David J.; Beck, Robert E. Jr.; Pratt, H. Douglas; Aguon, Celestino F. & Pyle, Robert L. (2000): Noteworthy Bird Records for Micronesia, with a Summary of Raptor Sightings in the Mariana Islands, 1988–1999. Micronesica 32(2): 257–284. PDF fulltext
Further reading
- Snow, D.W.(1965). "The breeding of the Audubon's Shearwater Puffinus lherminieri in the Galapagos." The Auk 82(4)