Newell's Shearwater
Encyclopedia
Newell's Shearwater or Hawaiian Shearwater (Puffinus newelli) is a seabird
belonging to the genus
Puffinus
in the family Procellariidae
. It belongs to a confusing group of shearwater
s which are difficult to identify and whose classification is controversial. It was formerly treated as a subspecies
of the Manx Shearwater
(Puffinus puffinus) and is now often placed in Townsend's Shearwater
(Puffinus auricularis). It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands
as a breeding bird. Its population is declining and it is classed as an endangered species
by BirdLife International
. It is named after Brother Matthias Newell, a missionary
who worked in Hawaii
from 1886 to 1924. It is known in Hawaiian
as the ʻaʻo.
-like braying call around the breeding areas. Townsend's Shearwater
(P. auricularis) is very similar but has dark undertail-coverts, a shorter tail and a less sharp boundary between the black and white on the face.
using specimens obtained by Brother Matthias Newell from residents of Maui. It was later included by some authors in the Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) as was Townsend's Shearwater (Puffinus auricularis). Later, Townsends's Shearwater was raised back to species status with Newell's Shearwater as a subspecies of it. This taxonomy was followed by the American Ornithologists' Union
from the sixth edition of its checklist onwards. However Newell's differs from Townsend's Shearwater in various measurements and has a different breeding season and marine habitat. It is now often treated as a separate species, e.g. by BirdLife International following Brooke (2004). In 2004, a study of mitochondrial DNA
sequences suggested a close relationship between Rapa Shearwater and Newell's Shearwater and the authors proposed that Rapa Shearwater be treated as a subspecies of P. newelli pending further study. The Rapa Shearwater is usually treated as a subspecies of Little Shearwater
(Puffinus assimilis) and named Puffinus assimilis myrtae. It breeds on the island of Rapa
in the Austral Islands
of French Polynesia
where it is known locally as the kaki kaki.
. The main colonies are on Kauai
, on slopes around the Alakai Plateau and probably in the Mokolea Mountains. Its distribution on the other islands is uncertain but it is known to breed on Molokai
and the island of Hawaii
and may breed on Oahu
, Maui
and Lānai
. From April to November it can be seen in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands, particularly around Kauai. Outside the breeding season it disperses into the tropical Pacific Ocean
. Its distribution at sea is little known but many move south and east into the waters of the Equatorial Counter Current
. It has been recorded as far west as the Mariana Islands
. In the south there are records from Samoa
in September 1977 and American Samoa
in January 1993.
and small fish. It dives into the water to catch its prey, swimming down to a depth of up to 10 metres using its wings to move forward. It is attracted to schools of tuna
and gathers in flocks with other seabird species to catch prey driven to the surface by the tuna.
but was rediscovered in 1947 and found breeding on Kauai
in 1967. The nest
site is a burrow dug into a steep slope, usually sheltered by uluhe (Dicranopteris linearis
fern
s). A single white egg
is laid during the first two weeks of June. Both parents incubate
the egg and an incubation period of 62 days has been recorded. The young birds leave the nest in October, 88-100 days after hatching. They fly out to sea and are no longer dependent on their parents.
such as mongoose
s, rat
s and Barn Owl
s. Young birds in particular are attracted to the lights of urban areas at night and many die in collisions with power lines and buildings. The population was estimated at 84,000 birds in the mid-1990s. A severe decline has occurred in recent years which may be associated with the effects of Hurricane Iniki
in 1992.
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
belonging to the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Puffinus
Puffinus
Puffinus is a genus of seabirds in the order Procellariiformes. It comprises about 20 small to medium-sized shearwaters. There are two other shearwater genera: Calonectris, which comprises three large shearwaters, and Procellaria with another four large species...
in the family Procellariidae
Procellariidae
The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order Procellariiformes , which also includes the albatrosses, the storm-petrels, and the diving petrels.The procellariids are...
. It belongs to a confusing group of shearwater
Shearwater
Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds. There are more than 30 species of shearwaters, a few larger ones in the genus Calonectris and many smaller species in the genus Puffinus...
s which are difficult to identify and whose classification is controversial. It was formerly treated as a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of the Manx Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
The Manx Shearwater is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx Shearwaters were called Manks Puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an Anglo-Norman word for the cured carcasses of nestling shearwaters...
(Puffinus puffinus) and is now often placed in Townsend's Shearwater
Townsend's Shearwater
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 and possibly the Manx Shearwater...
(Puffinus auricularis). It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
as a breeding bird. Its population is declining and it is classed as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
by BirdLife International
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
. It is named after Brother Matthias Newell, a missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
who worked in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
from 1886 to 1924. It is known in Hawaiian
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
as the ʻaʻo.
Description
It is a fairly small shearwater, 33 centimetres (13 in) in length. The wing is 223–249 mm (8.8–9.8 in) long and the tail is 78.9–88.8 mm (3.1–3.5 in). The bird weighs 0.34–0.425 kg (0.749571691428584–0.93696461428573 lb). The upperparts are black with a brown tinge while the underparts are white. The dark coloration on the face extends below the eye and is sharply separated from the white throat. There is a white patch on the flanks, extending onto the sides of the rump. The underwings are mainly white with a dark border. The undertail-coverts have a black and white pattern and appear white in the field. The bill is dark grey or brown and the legs and feet are mainly pale pink. The bird flies low over the water on stiff wings with a mixture of short glides and periods of rapid flapping. It utters a donkeyDonkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
-like braying call around the breeding areas. Townsend's Shearwater
Townsend's Shearwater
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 and possibly the Manx Shearwater...
(P. auricularis) is very similar but has dark undertail-coverts, a shorter tail and a less sharp boundary between the black and white on the face.
Systematics
It was described as a new species Puffinus newelli in 1900 by the American ornithologist Henry Wetherbee HenshawHenry Wetherbee Henshaw
Henry Wetherbee Henshaw was an American ornithologist.Henshaw studied at Cambridge High School where he met William Brewster. In 1869 he was forced to give up school due to ill health, and went on a collecting trip to Louisiana. This marked the start of his career as a field naturalist.In 1870...
using specimens obtained by Brother Matthias Newell from residents of Maui. It was later included by some authors in the Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) as was Townsend's Shearwater (Puffinus auricularis). Later, Townsends's Shearwater was raised back to species status with Newell's Shearwater as a subspecies of it. This taxonomy was followed by the American Ornithologists' Union
American Ornithologists' Union
The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...
from the sixth edition of its checklist onwards. However Newell's differs from Townsend's Shearwater in various measurements and has a different breeding season and marine habitat. It is now often treated as a separate species, e.g. by BirdLife International following Brooke (2004). In 2004, a study of mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
sequences suggested a close relationship between Rapa Shearwater and Newell's Shearwater and the authors proposed that Rapa Shearwater be treated as a subspecies of P. newelli pending further study. The Rapa Shearwater is usually treated as a subspecies of Little Shearwater
Little Shearwater
The Little Shearwater is a small shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae.mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data indicates that the former North Atlantic Little Shearwater group is closer to Audubon's Shearwater , and myrtae being closer to the Newell's and possibly Townsend's Shearwater...
(Puffinus assimilis) and named Puffinus assimilis myrtae. It breeds on the island of Rapa
Rapa Iti
Rapa or Rapa Iti as it is sometimes called in more recent years , is the largest and only inhabited island of the Bass Islands in French Polynesia. An older name for the island is Oparo Its area is 40 km2 with a population of almost 500 and a max elevation of 650 m...
in the Austral Islands
Austral Islands
The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tubuai Islands consisting of the Îles Maria, Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai...
of French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
where it is known locally as the kaki kaki.
Distribution
It breeds in at least 20 colonies on mountain slopes in the Hawaiian IslandsHawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
. The main colonies are on Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
, on slopes around the Alakai Plateau and probably in the Mokolea Mountains. Its distribution on the other islands is uncertain but it is known to breed on Molokai
Molokai
Molokai or Molokai is an island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is 38 by 10 miles in size with a land area of , making it the fifth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. It lies east of Oahu across the 25-mile wide Kaiwi Channel and north of...
and the island of Hawaii
Hawaii (island)
The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...
and may breed on Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
, Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
and Lānai
Lanai
Lānai or Lanai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement....
. From April to November it can be seen in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands, particularly around Kauai. Outside the breeding season it disperses into the tropical Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Its distribution at sea is little known but many move south and east into the waters of the Equatorial Counter Current
Equatorial Counter Current
The Equatorial Counter Current is a significant ocean current in the Pacific and Indian oceans that flows west-to-east at approximately five degrees north. The Counter Currents result from balancing the west flow of water in each ocean by the North and South Equatorial currents...
. It has been recorded as far west as the Mariana Islands
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
. In the south there are records from Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
in September 1977 and American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
in January 1993.
Feeding
It feeds far from land, in areas of deep water (at least 2000 metres). Its diet is little known but includes squidSquid
Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...
and small fish. It dives into the water to catch its prey, swimming down to a depth of up to 10 metres using its wings to move forward. It is attracted to schools of tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
and gathers in flocks with other seabird species to catch prey driven to the surface by the tuna.
Reproduction
By 1908, it was thought to be extinctExtinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
but was rediscovered in 1947 and found breeding on Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
in 1967. The nest
Nest
A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...
site is a burrow dug into a steep slope, usually sheltered by uluhe (Dicranopteris linearis
Dicranopteris linearis
Dicranopteris linearis is a common species of fern known by many common names, including Old World forked fern and uluhe . It is one of the most widely distributed ferns of the wet Old World tropics and adjacent regions, including Polynesia and the Pacific...
fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s). A single white egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
is laid during the first two weeks of June. Both parents incubate
Avian incubation
Incubation refers to the process by which certain oviparous animals hatch their eggs, and to the development of the embryo within the egg. The most vital factor of incubation is the constant temperature required for its development over a specific period. Especially in domestic fowl, the act of...
the egg and an incubation period of 62 days has been recorded. The young birds leave the nest in October, 88-100 days after hatching. They fly out to sea and are no longer dependent on their parents.
Conservation
It was formerly a much commoner bird with a wider breeding distribution in the islands. It has declined due to habitat loss and predation by introduced speciesIntroduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
such as mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
s, rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s and Barn Owl
Barn Owl
The Barn Owl is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds. It is also referred to as Common Barn Owl, to distinguish it from other species in the barn-owl family Tytonidae. These form one of two main lineages of living owls, the other being the typical...
s. Young birds in particular are attracted to the lights of urban areas at night and many die in collisions with power lines and buildings. The population was estimated at 84,000 birds in the mid-1990s. A severe decline has occurred in recent years which may be associated with the effects of Hurricane Iniki
Hurricane Iniki
Hurricane Iniki was the most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. state of Hawaii in recorded history. Forming on September 5 during the strong El Niño of 1991–1994, Iniki was one of eleven Central Pacific tropical cyclones during the 1992 season. It attained tropical storm status on...
in 1992.