One of the 5 shearwaters on WAnimals
Birds · Procellariiformes · Procellariidae
Newell's Shearwater
Puffinus newelli
It faces an extremely high risk of imminent extinction in the wild. See full glossary
Newell's shearwater is a seabird endemic to Hawaii that breeds in burrows dug on mountain slopes in the interior of the islands, above all on Kauai, and feeds on the open sea. Its population has fallen by more than ninety per cent since the 1970s. The main causes are predation by cats and rats and, above all, the disorientation of fledglings by artificial lights.
Weight
340 g – 425 g
Size
30 cm – 35 cm
Lifespan
30 years
Diet
Carnivore
Feeds mainly on other animals.
Activity
Nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
Social structure
Colony
Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.
Sighting difficulty
Very hard
Estimated population
Fewer than 20,000 individuals
Fun facts
- The fledglings that leave the nest at night are disoriented by artificial lights, circle until they are exhausted and fall to the ground on roads and car parks: on Kauai there is a programme that collects hundreds of downed birds every autumn to return them to the sea.
- Its population has fallen by more than ninety per cent since the 1970s, and reducing light pollution on the island is the most effective conservation measure identified so far.
- It nests above a thousand metres on fern-covered slopes in the interior of Kauai, and makes round trips of tens of kilometres to the ocean every night.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
- Habitat & environment
- The central Pacific; breeds in burrows on mountain slopes in the interior of Kauai, in Hawaii
- Sexual maturity
- 6 years
- Gestation / incubation
- 51 days of incubation
- Litter / clutch size
- 1 egg
Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/
Where to watch it
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Newell's Shearwater — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Hawaiian Petrel
Pterodroma sandwichensis
Manx Shearwater
Puffinus puffinus
Northern Fulmar
Fulmarus glacialis
Balearic Shearwater
Puffinus mauretanicus
Hawaiian Bobtail
Euprymna scolopes
Hawaiian Monk Seal
Neomonachus schauinslandi
How to help
The newell's shearwater is classified as critically endangered. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 1 real protected area — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about newell's shearwater.
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