Christmas shearwater
Christmas shearwater | |
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Adult taking off, French Frigate Shoals | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Procellariiformes |
Family: | Procellariidae |
Genus: | Puffinus |
Species: | P. nativitatis
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Binomial name | |
Puffinus nativitatis Streets, 1877
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The Christmas shearwater or ʻaoʻū
It is one member of a very ancient lineage of the small Puffinus species. Its only close living relative is the Galápagos shearwater (P. subalaris).
Taxonomy
The species was described and given its current
Description
The Christmas shearwater is a slender-bodied
The species closely resembles the sooty (Puffinus griseus) and short-tailed shearwaters (P. tenuirostris), but has dark brown underwings and is smaller. The short tail of the Christmas shearwater does not appear blunt except when spread, but in flight usually tapers to a point, enhanced by the feet which protrude beyond the tail-tip. It often flies in a leisurely way like the related Procellariidae, and thus can be mistaken for a petrel. In particular, it can appear similar to the extremely rare Fiji petrel (Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi), a gadfly petrel-like relative of the shearwaters. The two species share a similar morphology and colouration, but the bulbous head and rather thin long bill – typical for shearwaters – distinguish P. nativitatis from the slim-headed thick-billed Fiji petrel.[7]
Distribution and habitat
The Christmas shearwater nests on remote islands of the Central Pacific: the
Behaviour
Diet and feeding
Like its relatives it feeds at sea, predominantly on
Breeding
The Christmas shearwater nests on sandy islands with good cover. It nests on the surface, underneath dense cover (such as
Status and conservation
Although few specific studies have been conducted on the Christmas shearwaters, petrels and shearwaters are threatened worldwide by
Footnotes
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Gregg, Jason (12 May 2021). "Decolonizing Seabirds". Hakai Magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-05-12. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
- ^ doi:10.2173/bna.561(requires subscription)
- ^ Streets, Thomas Hale (1877). "Contributions to the natural history of the Hawaiian and Fanning Islands and Lower California made in connexion with the United States North Pacific Surveying Expedition, 1873-1875". Bulletin of the United States National Museum. 1 (7): 29.
- ^ Meyer, Ernst; Cottrell, G William, eds. (1979). "Puffinus nativitatis". Checklist of birds of the world. Volume 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 94–95.
- S2CID 86177092.
- ^ a b c d Seto (2001), Shirihai et al. (2009)
- ^ Seto (2001), BLI (2009)
References
- Austin, Jeremy J. (1996): Molecular Phylogenetics of Puffinus Shearwaters: Preliminary Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences. (HTML abstract)
- Seto, N.W.H. (2001): Christmas Shearwater (Puffinus nativitatis). In: Poole, A. & Gill, F. (eds.): The Birds of North America 561. doi:10.2173/bna.561(requires subscription)
- Shirihai, Hadoram; Pym, Tony; Kretzschmar, Jörg; Moce, Kolinio; Taukei, Amania & Watling, Dick (2009): First observations of Fiji Petrel Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi at sea: off Gau Island, Fiji, in May 2009. Bull. B.O.C. 129(3): 129–148. PDF fulltext