| Townsend's Shearwater | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Procellariidae |
| Genus: | Puffinus |
| Species: | P. auricularis |
| Binomial name | |
| Puffinus auricularis Townsend, 1890 |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Puffinus auricularis auricularis |
|
Townsend's Shearwater, Puffinus auricularis, is a rare seabird of the tropics from the family Procellariidae.
Its relationships are unresolved. Its closest relatives are probably, but not certainly, the Hawaiian Shearwater (Puffinus newelli) and possibly the Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) (Austin, 1996; Austin et al., 2004). It formerly contained the former as a subspecies and was long considered a subspecies of the latter. The relationship of the Rapa Shearwater, P. (newelli) myrtae in regards to these species are also in need of research; this taxon was until recently placed in P.assimilis (Austin et al., 2004).
This species breeds around Cerro Evermann on Isla Socorro in the Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico. The main threat to this species comes from feral cats introduced to Socorro in the early 1970s. Sheep are also destroying breeding habitat. The species bred on Isla Clarión until 1988, where habitat and nesting sites were destroyed by introduced pigs, sheep and rabbits.
The species is named for Charles Haskins Townsend (1859-1944), eminent American ornithologist and ichthyologist.