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
Scarlett's shearwater Scarlett's shearwater Scarlett's shearwater ("Puffinus spelaeus") is an extinct species of seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. Its common name commemorates New Zealand palaeontologist Ron Scarlett, who recognised the bird's subfossil remains represented a distinct species. This bird was described from bones collected in 1991 from a cave near the Fox River in the South Island of New Zealand. Subsequent discoveries of bones dating from 20,000 years ago to less than 600 years old reveal it was found only in the west and northwest of the South Island, in Northwest Nelson and Buller. Scarlett's shearwater was closely related to the