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
Puffinus least 1337, but from as early as 1678 the term gradually came to be used for another, unrelated, seabird, the Atlantic puffin, an auk. The current English name was first recorded in 1835 and refers to the former nesting of this species on the Isle of Man. The taxonomy of this group is the cause of much debate, and the number of recognised species varies with the source. The species in this group are long-winged birds, dark brown or black above, and white to dark brown below. They are pelagic outside the breeding season. They are most common in temperate