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Puffinus mauretanicus (Balearic
shearwater)
Baleariese pylstormvoël [Afrikaans]; Vale pijlstormvogel
[Dutch]; Puffin des Baléares [French]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Ciconiiformes
> Family: Procellariidae
Distribution and habitat
Breeds on Balearic Island, west Mediterranean Sea,
dispersing across Straits of Gibraltar to North-east Atlantic Ocean. It is a
rare vagrant to southern African waters, with two birds collected in False Bay
in 1979 and a single bird recorded off the Cape Peninsula, Western Cape in 2000
and 2001.
Threats
Critically endangered, with a total population of
roughly 4200-9200 individuals, which is decreasing rapidly due to introduced
predators and exploitation by humans. Its population size is expected to
decrease by 98% over the next three generations due to these factors.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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