Christmas Shearwater

The Christmas Shearwater (Puffinus nativitatis) is a medium-sized shearwater of the tropical Central Pacific. It is a poorly known species due to its remote nesting habits, and it has not been extensively studied at sea either.

It is one member of a very ancient lineage of the small Puffinus species. Its only close living relative is the Galápagos Shearwater (P. subalaris), as indicated by mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology. Until recently, that species was considered conspecific with Audubon's Shearwater.