Pink-footed Shearwater
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Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae

[Photo] Fardela blanca (Puffinus creatopus). PINK FOOTED SHEARWATER. Frente a Valparaiso, Noviembre 15, 2006. Source: Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/pablocaceres/298719081/). Author: pablo_caceres_c (www.flickr.com/photos/pablocaceres/).

The Pink-footed Shearwater (Puffinus creatopus) is a species of seabird. The bird is 48 cm in size, with a 109 cm wingspan. It is polymorphic, having both darker and lighter phase populations. Together with the equally light-billed Flesh-footed Shearwater, it forms the Hemipuffinus group, a superspecies which may or may not have an Atlantic relative in the Great Shearwater (Austin, 1996; Austin et al, 2004). These are large shearwaters which are among those that could be separated in the genus Ardenna (Penhallurick & Wink, 2004).

This species is pelagic, occurring in the Pacific Ocean. It predominantly nests on offshore islands off Chile. It is a transequatorial migrant, moving toward subarctic waters of the Pacific after raising it's young. It is fairly common well off the west coast of the United States during the country's warmer months.

Pink-footed Shearwater feeds on mainly fish, squid and crustaceans.

This bird nests in burrows, preferring forested slopes. It is a colonial nester.

Numbers of this shearwater are have been reduced due to predation by introduced species, such as rats and cats. Some loss of birds also occurs from becoming entangled in fishing gear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink-footed_Shearwater

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