Hutton's shearwater

Hutton's shearwater
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Puffinus
Species:
P. huttoni
Binomial name
Puffinus huttoni
Mathews, 1912

Hutton's shearwater (Puffinus huttoni; also known in Māori as kaikōura tītī) is a medium-sized ocean-going seabird in the family Procellariidae. Its range is Australian and New Zealand waters, but it breeds only in mainland New Zealand. Its conservation status is Endangered, because there are just two remaining breeding colonies, located in the Seaward Kaikōura Range. Six other shearwater colonies have been destroyed by introduced pigs. Hutton's shearwater is the only seabird in the world that is known to breed in alpine areas. Conservation measures for the bird include predator control at the breeding sites, establishing the Kaikōura Dark Sky Sanctuary, and community initiatives to rescue birds that crash-land at night on streets in Kaikōura. A protected breeding area has also been created on the Kaikōura Peninsula, including a pest-exclusion fence and man-made burrows, with the initial population established by translocating fledglings from the remaining breeding colonies.