Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Ardenna pacifica
- Class
- Bird
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 2,728
- Most observed in
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The wedge-tailed shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) (Uau Kani or Koto in Hawaiian) is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and the short-tailed shearwater of Australia. It is found throughout the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, roughly between latitudes 35°N and 35°S. It breeds on the islands off Japan, on the Islas Revillagigedo, the Hawaiian Islands, the Seychelles, the Northern Mariana Islands, and off Eastern and Western Australia. Its Hawaiian name "Uau Kani" reflects the sound of their bird call. Native Hawaiians had sometimes named birds after the nature of their melody.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Wedge-tailed shearwater”.