Black-vented Shearwater

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Black-vented Shearwater
Conservation status
Near Threatened
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae Genus: Puffinus Species: P. opisthomelas
Binomial name
Puffinus opisthomelas Coues, 1864

The Black-vented Shearwater (Puffinus opisthomlas) is a species of seabird. The bird is 30-38 cm in size, with a 76-89 cm wingspan. This was formerly considered to be a race of the Manx Shearwater. Its relationships are unresolved (Austin et al, 2004).

This species is pelagic, occurring in the Pacific Ocean. However it occurs closer to land than most other shearwaters, so it sometimes can be seen from shore. It predominantly nests on offshore islands off the Baja California, namely Isla de Guadalupe, Islas San Benito and Isla Natividad. It is fairly common off the United States coast of central and southern California during the country's colder months.

This bird nests in burrows and caves. It is a colonial nester.

Black-vented Shearwater is thought to feed on mainly small fish.

In the past, this bird had been threatened by introduced cats and other predators on its breeding islands, but the problem seems to have been largely eliminated. There is some loss of birds from commercial gill netting.

[edit] References

• 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. Auk 121(3): 847–864. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2004)121[0847:AGMPOT]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract

• BirdLife International (2004). Puffinus opisthomelas. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of vulnerable,and the criteria used

• Carboneras, Carles (1992): 65. Black-vented Shearwater. In: del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (editors): Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks: 255-256, Plate 16. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-10-5

• National Geographic Society (2002): Field Guide to the Birds of North America. National Geographic, Washington DC. ISBN 0-7922-6877-6

• Harrison, Peter (1991): Seabirds: An Identification Guide. Houghton Mifflin.