Persian Shearwater Puffinus persicus Scientific name definitions

Like many pelagic seabirds, when it visits land to nest the Persian Shearwater is highly concentrated, breeding at just three locations; on the Kuria Muria Islands, off southern Oman, Socotra off the Horn of Africa, and Mohéli in the Comoro Islands. Two subspecies are recognized: the nominate, which nests at the two northerly localities in the Arabian Sea, and temptator, in the western Indian Ocean. Both were previously considered races of what was once a pantropical Audubon’s Shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri), but the latter is now increasingly viewed as comprising a complex of species. Puffinus persicus is a typical member of this group, being a small, dark-and-white shearwater with comparatively short broad wings and long rounded tail. Both subspecies are, as yet, very poorly known, with even the most basic details concerning seasonality of breeding being distinctly sketchy, despite their relative abundance. Although generally considered to be comparatively sedentary, for a pelagic seabird (!), individuals ascribed to the nominate race have wandered north to the Mediterranean coast of Israel, presumably having crossed the country’s desert (as is well established for some other seabirds), east to southwest India, and south to the Maldives.