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
Bannerman's shearwater to feed on fish, squid and cephalopods, by surface-seizing, underwater pursuit, including diving and plunging, and pattering (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Brooke 2004). It is likely to nest in rock crevices or burrows and form colonies (del Hoyo et al. 1992). Bannerman's shearwater Bannerman's shearwater ("Puffinus bannermani") is a seabird in the Procellariidae family formerly considered conspecific with Audubon's shearwater ("Puffinus lherminieri"). Little is known of this species other than that it breeds in the Volcano Islands in the Ogasawara Group to the southwest of Japan and doesn't seem to range far from this area. The species population size