Rapa shearwater

Rapa shearwater
Not recognized (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Puffinus
Species: P. myrtae
Binomial name
Puffinus myrtae
Bourne, 1959
Synonyms

Puffinus newelli myrtae
Puffinus assimilis myrtae
Puffinus auricularis myrtae

The Rapa shearwater (Puffinus myrtae), is a rare seabird of the tropics from the family Procellariidae. It breeds on the island of Rapa in the Austral Islands of French Polynesia where it is known locally as the kaki kaki.[1]

Its relationship is confusing. Its closest relatives are probably, but not certainly, the Hawaiian shearwater (Puffinus newelli) and possibly the little shearwater (Puffinus assimilis). It used to be included in the former as a subspecies and was long considered a subspecies of the latter.

References

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