Six species of seabirds native to New Zealand, Fiji, Ecuador, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands would be protected by the Endangered Species Act under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal published in today's Federal Register.
The species proposed to be classified as endangered include the Chatham petrel (Pterodroma axillaris), and magenta petrel (Pterodroma magentae), of New Zealand, and the Fiji petrel (Pterodroma macgillivrayi), of Fiji.
Cooks petrel (Pterodroma cookii), also of New Zealand; the Galapagos petrel (Pterodroma phaeopygia), of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador; and the Heinroth's shearwater (Puffinus heinrothi), native to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, are proposed to be classified as threatened.
All of the species live on the open sea, where they feed all year, returning to land only to breed, briefly nesting in colonies on islands.
