Proposal (1041) to South American Classification Committee

Add Puffinus nativitatis (Christmas Shearwater) to main list

A single Puffinus nativitatis was photographed at sea in Canal de Itabaca, a narrow straight that separates the islands of Baltra and Santa Cruz, Galápagos, Ecuador. It was observed in a feeding flock of Puffinus subalaris and Anous stolidus by two experienced observers (Morris & Schofield 2024) on 21 May 2023. Key identification features were the wholly dark chocolate plumage, contrasting blackish underwing coverts, slender bill, foot not projecting beyond the tail and tail projecting slightly beyond the primaries. The observation lasted up to 5 min at 75–250 m distance, but good voucher photographs were secured (see below).

And here is the critical paragraph on identification:

This is the first documented record for Ecuador and South America.

Christmas Shearwater has been reported by Spear & Ainley (1999) in the Panama Bight region (see https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCHypoList.htm). However, Donegan et al. (2018) noted that the observation locality fell within Panamian territorial waters. A more recent observation was reported by Fabrice Schmitt et al. in eBird (2020) at 2°50'N, 83°20'W, coordinates that fall in Colombian territorial waters (T. Donegan, in litt., Jan. 2025), being c.150 km WSW of Isla Malpelo.

Ref:

Morris, P. & R. Schofield (2024). First documented record of Christmas Shearwater Puffinus nativitatis for the Galapagos, Ecuador and South America. Cotinga 46: 81–82.

Juan Freile, January 2025

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Vote tracking chart:

https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCPropChart968-1043.htm

Comments from Remsen: “YES. Published photographs and identification endorsed by S. N. G. Howell.”

Comments from Stiles: “YES - the bird clearly was identified correctly as P. nativitatis.”

Comments from Lane: “YES. Only recently did I finally realize that this species is simply a melanistic member of the Puffinus lherminieri complex, and as such is very distinctive in shape and flight style from most of the dark shearwaters (e.g., Ardenna grisea) that could possibly be confused with it. The photos presented show the correct shape to me, so I think the documentation is solid.”

Comments from Zimmer: “YES. The documentation presented (good photos clearly showing key features of shape, foot projection or lack thereof, and underwing linings & overall coloration of plumage and bare parts) conclusively establishes the identity of the bird in question off Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on 21 May 2023, thereby necessitating that we add it to our list.”

Comments from Mark Pearman (voting for Bonaccorso): “YES. The combination of uniform dark underwing-coverts, proportionate bill length, wing-body ratio, fanned tail shape, lack of toe projection and ventral coloration allude to an unequivocal Christmas Shearwater identification.”

Comments from Areta: “YES, for the reasons stated in the proposal and by others.”

Comments from Manuel Marín (voting for Del-Rio): “YES : Correct shape and general uniform body and culmen coloration, and darkish underwing coverts.

“The potential competition would be Sooty Shearwater and dark phase Wedge-tailed Shearwater; both could be observed on Galapagos waters. Christmas differs from the other two in having darker underwing coloration and more rounded wing shape. Other parameters such as foot projection behind tail are not possible to judge on the photos. However, there is no foot projection on P. nativitatis. However, that character is often used for Sooty Shearwater but does not always work as it might have or might not have foot projection. See included photo.

“Furthermore, all shearwaters fan the tail when maneuvering for short distances, so it is not diagnostic, but the photo shows the correct relative length of the rectrices giving the rounded shape of the tail. The bird in the photo appears to be a medium/smaller shearwater [compared to the other birds on photos], and both Wedge-tailed and Sooty shearwaters are bigger. In addition, Wedge-tailed’s culmen is bi-colored with a dark tip, whereas this bird has uniform culmen coloration. All the characteristics observed point definitively for P. nativitatis, an interesting record a vagrant to the zone?

“Fo a different view of the bird, there is a record in eBird by P. Rasmussen that is probably the same bird as it is from same date and area:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S139659133?_gl=1*eyqj7b*_gcl_au*MjA0MzMyMzE2Ni4xNzM0NTgwOTA1*_ga*NDkxNjI1NzA3LjE3MjE4NzQzMjQ.*_ga_QR4NVXZ8BM*MTc0MTgzMDQ4MS4xOTguMS4xNzQxODM0MTY0LjI2LjAuMA..&_ga=2.233556509.2007663285.1740705612-491625707.1721874324)”

Comments from Robbins: “YES for adding nativitatis to the list. I’m taking at face value the characters that have been stated to distinguish nativitatis from other similar shearwaters. The photos clearly support those stated characters.”

Comments from Pam Rasmussen in response to Marín: “Yes of course it was the same bird, as indicated by my comments in my eBird checklist. It was literally less than 2 hours from the start of the Galapagos trip; we had just left the airport and gotten on the boat.”