NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Newell's Shearwater
Puffinus newelli Henshaw, 1900
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Newell's shearwater or Hawaiian shearwater (ʻaʻo), (Puffinus newelli) is a seabird in the family Procellariidae. It belongs to a confusing group of shearwaters which are difficult to identify and whose classification is controversial. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) and is now often placed in Townsend's shearwater (Puffinus auricularis).
This shearwater is the only seabird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Its Hawaiian name "ʻaʻo" comes from the sound of its call. Native Hawaiians regarded the ʻaʻo's haunting song as an omen of death.
Wikipedia contributors, Newell's shearwater; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:38:14.561763+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Puffinus newelli Henshaw, 1900
- Name authority
- Henshaw, 1900
- Common name
- Newell's Shearwater
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Procellariiformes
- Family
- Procellariidae
- Genus
- Puffinus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderProcellariiformes
- familyProcellariidae Leach, 1820
- genusPuffinus Brisson, 1760
- speciesPuffinus newelli Henshaw, 1900
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Puffinus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Boyd's ShearwaterPuffinus boydi Mathews, 1912 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heinroth's ShearwaterPuffinus heinrothi Reichenow, 1919 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Balearic ShearwaterPuffinus mauretanicus Lowe, 1921 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Galapagos ShearwaterPuffinus subalaris Ridgway, 1897 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yelkouan ShearwaterPuffinus yelkouan (Acerbi, 1827) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tropical ShearwaterPuffinus bailloni (Bonaparte, 1857) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Subantarctic ShearwaterPuffinus elegans Giglioli & Salvadori, 1869 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little ShearwaterPuffinus assimilis Gould, 1838 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| 'A'oPuffinus auricularis C. H. Townsend, 1890 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bannerman's ShearwaterPuffinus bannermani Mathews & Iredale, 1915 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Barolo ShearwaterPuffinus baroli (Bonaparte, 1857) | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bryan's ShearwaterPuffinus bryani Pyle, Welch & R. C. Fleischer, 2011 | ProcellariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Puffinus auricularis newelli Henshaw, 1900 Henshaw, 1900 | synonym |
| Puffinus newelli newelli Henshaw, 1900 Henshaw, 1900 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Henshaw, H. W. (1900). Description of a New Shearwater from the Hawaiian Islands. The Auk, Vol. 17, No. 3. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4QFXY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.