CreatureData

Newell's shearwater

Puffinus newelli Henshaw, 1900

CRCritically Endangeredbirds

The newell's shearwater (Puffinus newelli) is a species in the family Procellariidae, order Procellariiformes. Recorded adults weigh 350.8 g to 468 g and live up to 7 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Critically Endangered.

Newell's shearwater (Puffinus newelli)
Photo: ALAN SCHMIERER from southeast AZ, USA · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the newell's shearwater

Weight
350.8 g – 468 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
77 cm – 89 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
7 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
51.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
4.5 years – 5.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the newell's shearwater?

NEWELL'S SHEARWATER · WINGSPAN 89 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 89 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the newell's shearwater is about 52% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the newell's shearwater live?

Not recorded

What is the newell's shearwater?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

From the Wikipedia article “Newell's shearwater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Newell%27s_shearwater&oldid=1380698060), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the newell's shearwater endangered?

The newell's shearwater is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Critically Endangered species. What the categories mean.

How is the newell's shearwater classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderProcellariiformes
  5. familyProcellariidae
  6. genusPuffinus
  7. SpeciesPuffinus newelli Henshaw, 1900

Synonyms Puffinus auricularis newelli, Puffinus newelli newelli, Puffinus puffinus newelli

Other names and names in other languages (38)
  • Hawaiian shearwaterEnglish
  • Newell's Townsend's shearwaterEnglish
  • Newell’s shearwaterEnglish
  • Newell’s shearwaterEnglish
  • جلم الماء النيويليArabic
  • baldriga de NewellCatalan
  • buřňák kauaiskýCzech
  • buřňák NewellůvCzech
  • HawaiiskråpeDanish
  • HawaiisturmtaucherGerman
  • NewellsturmtaucherGerman
  • havaja pufinoEsperanto
  • Nevela pufinoEsperanto
  • Pardela de NewellSpanish
  • kauai tormilindEstonian
  • کبوتر دریایی هاواییPersian
  • Puffin de NewellFrench
  • ʻAʻoHawaiian
  • ‘A‘oHawaiian
  • dugorepi zovojCroatian
  • Newellov zovojCroatian
  • Berta di NewellItalian
  • ハワイセグロミズナギドリJapanese
  • Newells PijlstormvogelDutch
  • hawaiilireNorwegian
  • burzyk hawajskiPolish
  • pardela-de-newellPortuguese
  • fura-bucho-havaianoPortuguese
  • Буревестник НьюэллаRussian
  • Гавайский буревестникRussian
  • víchrovník havajskýSlovak
  • Crni havajski zovojSerbian
  • hawaiiliraSwedish
  • Newells liraSwedish
  • Newell YelkovanıTurkish
  • буревісник молокайськийUkrainian
  • 夏威夷鹱Chinese
  • 紐維爾氏鸌Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the newell's shearwater

Other species in the same genus Puffinus.

CompareNewell's shearwater vs Manx shearwaterNewell's shearwater vs Balearic shearwaterNewell's shearwater vs Sargasso shearwaterNewell's shearwater vs Little shearwater

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the newell's shearwater?

An adult newell's shearwater weighs 350.8 g – 468 g and has a wingspan of 77 cm – 89 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the newell's shearwater endangered?

The newell's shearwater is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the newell's shearwater live?

The newell's shearwater has a recorded lifespan of 7 years.

What kind of animal is the newell's shearwater?

The newell's shearwater (Puffinus newelli) belongs to the family Procellariidae in the order Procellariiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Newell's shearwater (Puffinus newelli). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/newells-shearwater

MLA

“Newell's shearwater (Puffinus newelli).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/newells-shearwater.

BibTeX
@misc{newells_shearwater_2026,
  title = {Newell's shearwater (Puffinus newelli)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/newells-shearwater},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}