Puffinus bryani
Bryan's Shearwater (Puffinus bryani) is a remarkably small and recently described pelagic seabird, belonging to the family Procellariidae. Measuring approximately 22 cm in length with a wingspan of 45-50 cm, it presents a compact, slender profile. Its plumage features dark sooty-brown upperparts that contrast sharply with clean white underparts and distinctive dark underwing linings. Diagnostic field marks, though challenging to observe at sea, include its diminutive size, slender dark bill, ...
This pelagic seabird inhabits offshore oceanic waters, coming ashore exclusively to breed on remote, predator-free islands, typically nesting in burrows or rock crevices.
The diet of Bryan's Shearwater primarily consists of small fish, squid, and crustaceans, obtained through surface-seizing and shallow pursuit-diving.
Bryan's Shearwater is strictly nocturnal at its breeding colonies, a crucial adaptation to evade aerial predators like gulls and raptors. While at sea, it forages by surface-seizing and shallow pursuit-diving, feeding on small fish, squid, and marine invertebrates, often joining mixed-species fee...
The known breeding range of Bryan's Shearwater is highly restricted to a few small, remote islands within the Bonin Islands (Ogasawara Islands) of Japan, specifically Higashi-jima and MukÅ-jima. The species was initially described from a type specimen collected on Midway Atoll in the Northwestern...
Critically Endangered
- Bryan's Shearwater was described as a new species in 2011, nearly 50 years after the initial specimen was collected on Midway Atoll. - It is named after Edwin H. Bryan Jr., an American naturalist and former curator at the Pacific Scientific Information Center, who collected the type specimen. -...