Sargasso shearwater
| Sargasso shearwater | |
|---|---|
| off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Procellariiformes |
| Family: | Procellariidae |
| Genus: | Puffinus |
| Species: | P. lherminieri |
| Binomial name | |
| Puffinus lherminieri Lesson, 1839 | |
| Subspecies | |
|
1-2, but see text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Puffinus assimilis lherminieri Lesson, 1839 | |
The Sargasso shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri) is a small tropical seabird in the petrel family. The only shearwater to nest primarily in the Caribbean, it ranges throughout the western Atlantic during the non-breeding season. Its specific epithet honours the French naturalist Félix Louis L'Herminier.
This bird is part of a species complex formerly known as Audubon's shearwater, or occasionally as dusky-backed shearwater. Most authors now separate this complex into a range of species including the Sargasso shearwater, tropical shearwater, Boyd's shearwater, Barolo shearwater, Bannerman's shearwater, and Persian shearwater. These small seabirds form a cryptic species complex which ornithologists have only recently begun to disentangle.