Townsend's shearwater Townsend's shearwater The 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. myrtae" in regard to these species are also in need of research; this taxon was until recently placed in "P. assimilis" (Austin "et al.", 2004), but now raised
Wildlife of Morocco endemic bird species, the northern bald ibis ("Geronticus eremita") occurs here, and there are about 12 globally endangered species; the white-headed duck ("Oxyura leucocephala"), the Balearic shearwater ("Puffinus mauretanicus"), the northern bald ibis, the Egyptian vulture ("Neophron percnopterus"), the lappet-faced vulture ("Torgos tracheliotos"), the hooded vulture ("Necrosyrtes monachus"), the white-backed vulture ("Gyps africanus"), the Rüppell's vulture ("Gyps rueppelli"), the sociable lapwing ("Vanellus gregarius"), the slender-billed curlew ("Numenius tenuirostris"), the great knot ("Calidris tenuirostris") and the saker falcon ("Falco cherrug"). Other birds with restricted ranges in north Africa include the Levaillant's woodpecker ("Picus vaillantii"), the Moussier's redstart ("Phoenicurus moussieri") and the