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
Diego Garcia Other nesting native birds include red-tailed tropicbirds ("Phaethon rubricauda"), wedge-tailed shearwaters ("Puffinus pacificus"), Audubon's shearwater ("Puffinus iherminierii"), black-naped terns ("Sterna sumatrana"), white (or fairy) terns ("Gygis alba"), striated herons ("Butorides striatus"), and white-breasted waterhens ("Amaurornis phoenicurus"). The 680-hectare Barton Point Nature Reserve was identified as an Important Bird Area for its large breeding colony of red-footed boobies. The island hosts introduced bird species from many regions, including cattle egrets ("Bubulcus ibis"), Indian barred ground dove, also called the zebra dove ("Geopelia striata"), turtle dove ("Nesoenas picturata"), Indian mynah ("Acridotheres tristis"), Madagascar fody ("Foudia madagascariensis"), and chickens ("Gallus gallus"). Currently, three