Ardenna pacifica (J.F.Gmelin, 1789)

Bishop, K. David, 2023, The avifauna of Biak Island, Papua, Indonesia with comments on status, conservation, natural history and taxonomy, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 143 (1), pp. 3-62 : 22

**WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER Ardenna pacifica

Status Regular visitor?Although widespread in the tropical and subtropical Pacific and regularly recorded in waters immediately north of Papua New Guinea, there are few records from adjacent Indonesian New Guinea seas (Beehler & Pratt 2016; KDB). 24 August 2008: A. Whitlock (eBird checklist S48329087) noted 15, mostly dark morph, off southern Biak. KDB (together with J.

Diamond) observed small numbers in the Raja Ampat Islands during January 1986 and October 2017; furthermore, on 17 November 2016 he noted c.60 off the north coast of Batanta, Raja Ampat Islands , and in September 1990 he saw small numbers off the north coast of the Vogelkop. These observations indicate that the species regularly occurs further west in northern New Guinea waters than previously surmised.