The occurrence and status of black-and-white Puffinus shearwaters on the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts, with the first specimen records of Persian Shearwater P. persicus persicus

Abstract

We review specimens and sight records of small black-and-white Puffinus shearwaters in Kenya and Tanzania. An early specimen of an Audubon's Shearwater P. lherminieri sensu lato found inland at Limuru, Kenya in October 1963, long held to represent taxon bailloni (now treated as Tropical Shearwater P. bailloni), is reassigned here to P. b. nicolae. We refer three other specimens and two well-documented sight records to Persian Shearwater P. persicus persicus and a third sight record in northern Tanzania to P. persicus. We suggest that nominate persicus is a regular visitor to the central Kenya coast in December–March, probably as far south as the Pangani region of north-east Tanzania at least, concurrent with a seasonal upwelling event on the Kenya Banks associated with the north-east monsoon. Tropical Shearwater, however, is no more than a rare visitor to East African shores based on current evidence. Our data clarify the status of these shearwaters in the region, provide additional biometric data to complement published sources, and extend the western Indian Ocean non-breeding range of the nominate subspecies of Persian Shearwater approximately 2,000 km south from northern Somalia.