Newell's Shearwater

Puffinus newelli is a medium-sized seabird with a black upperside, white underparts, and a distinctive fast, fluttering flight pattern low over the ocean surface. Like other shearwaters, it spends most of its life at sea, feeding on small fish and squid, often in association with predatory fish or cetaceans that drive prey to the surface. It returns to land only to breed, nesting in burrows on forested mountain slopes, where it is highly vulnerable due to its nocturnal habits and dependence on a single, narrow nesting habitat type.

The species breeds primarily on the Hawaiian Islands, with its stronghold on Kauai, and forages widely across the tropical and subtropical Pacific, with records extending to Japan, Fiji, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Australia, and Wallis and Futuna. Its habitat spans marine neritic waters for foraging and steep, vegetated terrestrial slopes for nesting.

Threats are numerous and compounding: introduced predators such as rats, cats, and pigs prey on eggs, chicks, and adults at burrows; collisions with powerlines and communication towers, along with attraction to artificial lighting, cause fallout and mortality, particularly among fledglings; habitat loss from urban development, agriculture, and logging degrades nesting grounds; incidental bycatch in fisheries adds further pressure; and barotrauma or collision risks from renewable energy infrastructure are emerging concerns.

Conservation efforts include predator control and exclusion fencing at breeding colonies, powerline marking and lighting modifications, and the Save Our Shearwaters program, which rescues grounded fledglings disoriented by artificial lights. Population monitoring using radar and acoustic surveys continues on Kauai.

The population is small and has declined sharply over recent decades. Despite active intervention, the species remains critically endangered, and its long-term outlook depends heavily on sustained predator control and mitigation of light and collision hazards.