| Hutton's Shearwater | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Procellariidae |
| Genus: | Puffinus |
| Species: | P. huttoni |
| Binomial name | |
| Puffinus huttoni Matthews, 1912 |
|
The Hutton's Shearwater (Puffinus huttoni) is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. Its common and specific name commemorates F. W. Hutton, a former curator of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch.
It is an endemic breeder of New Zealand, with breeding restricted to only two remaining colonies in the Kaikoura Seaward Ranges, Kaikoura.[1] During the non-breeding winter months migration occurs to South Australia. Some anecdotal evidence suggests pre-breeding birds circumnavigate Australia in the years leading up to sexual maturity.
Its natural habitats are open seas, and colonies occur within the sub-alpine to alpine range.
It is threatened primarily by habitat loss caused by colony disruption by introduced browsing mammals and introduced stoat (Mustela erminea) predation on their nesting burrows.[1] In order to preserve the species a new colony has been established on the Kaikoura Peninsula.[2]
These birds sometimes crash-land on roads, apparently mistaking the roads for stretches of open water.[3]