Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Ardenna pacifica
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![]() These far-ranging seabirds nest in burrows on most of the Hawaiian islands between March and December. They are most easily seen at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge at the north end of Kauai where they are protected, and where I took this picture of a young bird in a nest only a few feet from one of the trails that crisscross this magnificant bird-watching spot. During most of the nesting season, both parents forage at sea during the day, leaving the young bird (they only produce one a year) by itself in the burrow. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are found throughout the islands of the north and tropical Pacific as well as in the Indian Ocean, and only occasionally range to the west coast of North America. |