Taxonomy |
Monotypic. Formerly
considered a subspecies of Audubon's Shearwater.
Type specimen collected in Blanche Bay, New Britain in 1919.
Identification |
A extremely poorly
known dark small shearwater of the tropical western Pacific. Smaller than Sooty
or Short-tailed Shearwaters. Noticably long and slender bill. Iris brown or
blue. Head, neck and upper-breast sooty-brown, paler on chin and upperthroat.
Upperparts and tail uniform sooty-brown. Underparts more variable. Underwing
partly whitish recalling Audubon's Shearwater. Juvenile similar to adult.
May be the first at-sea photo of this species! Taken in the Bismarck Archipelago, August 2003. Photo copyright of Hadoram Shirihai. [Please do not reproduce without prior permission.]
Where and When |
Classified as ENDANGERED.
Breeding grounds not known with certainty, but most likely to be Bougainville.
Historical records from seas near Rabaul in the New Britain Group. More
recently seen in seas around Bougainville and in the Bismark Sea (between Buka
and Kieta). In 1979 a fledged immature was found on Arawa, Bougainville and
then in 1980, an adult was found in the Crown Prince Range on Bougainville.
There are additional observations from Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands,
and it is possible the species breeds in the island's mountains.
Photographs on the web |
See above. Many thanks
to Hadoram Shirihai for generously sharing his superb images.
Published Photographs |
Enticott and Tipling
(1997) page 91.
Literature |
Page layout copyright
Angus Wilson © 2003 and photograph
copyright Hadoram Shirihai © 2003, all rights reserved.
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