Galapagos Shearwater

Puffinus subalaris Ridgway, 1897

Galapagos Shearwater, Puffinus subalaris, is a Procellariiformes bird of the Galápagos Islands and nearby Pacific waters, breeding on islets off Wolf, Santa Cruz, Campeon, Islote Pitt and Espanola. Outside the breeding season it ranges to waters off west-central Mexico and Central America in the north Pacific. It is a member of the Procellariidae and was described by Ridgway in 1897. It is a small shearwater and was once treated as a subspecies of Audubon’s shearwater. It is also part of an ancient Puffinus lineage, alongside the Christmas shearwater.

Order

Procellariiformes

Family

Procellariidae — Petrels, Shearwaters, Diving Petrels

Breeding range

Pacific Ocean: islets off Wolf (=Wenman), Santa Cruz (=Indefatigable), Campeon (=Champion, ne of Floreana), Islote Pitt (ne of San Cristobal=Chatham) and Espanola (=Hood; Galápagos)

Nonbreeding range

to waters off wc Mexico and Central America (se North Pacific Ocean)