Little Shearwater (Puffinus assimilis)

Identification & Behavior: ~27.5 cm (11 in). The Little Shearwater has gray-brown upperparts and white underparts. The undewing is white narrowly bordered with black. The undertail coverts are white. The bill is grayish. It forages in pelagic waters. It is similar to the Galapagos Shearwater but is distinguished by having white underwing and white undertail coverts.

Status: The Little Shearwater is known in pelagic waters of south and central Peru on the basis of undocumented sight records. It also occurs in Ch and Br.

Name in Spanish: Pardela Chica.

Sub-species: Little Shearwater (Puffinus assimilis elegans), Giglioli and Salvadori, 1869.

Meaning of Name: Puffinus: English name Puffin (c. 1508), applied to the cured carcass of the nestling shearwater. assimilis: L. assimilis= similar, like. Indicates a close resemblance or relationship to another, but not necessarily congeneric, species.

See more of the Family Procellariidae