ʻAoʻū are an ancient lineage of a type of puffin, sleek and moderate in size, with dark chocolate brown plumage, a short wedge-like tail, black bill, and a wingspan of up to three feet. - Photo: Duncan, Flickr, 23 May 2007, www.flickr.com/photos/angrysunbird/510535561
Like many Hawaiian birds, ʻaoʻū’s name mimics its drawn-out call, “ao ao ao ao ao ao UUU.”
Yet, there is more here than meets the ear.
Unfolding like a wing over the water, “ao” tells of this seabird’s expansive range across the entire archipelago – crossing from the aging atolls of Papahānaumokuākea to the new light of the main Hawaiian Islands – while “ū” invokes the ocean’s rolling breath and a life at sea.
ʻAoʻū (Puffinus nativitatis) is an ancient lineage of a type of puffin, sleek and moderate in size, with dark chocolate brown plumage, a short wedge-like tail, black bill, and a wingspan of up to three feet.
They breed in small colonies, usually returning to their original breeding grounds to nest along sandy shores, under shrubby vegetation, or hidden in rocky crevices, to lay a single egg.
Not the most impressive divers as far as seabirds go, ʻaoʻū still manage to catch their fair share of fish and squid closer to the surface.
ʻAoʻū are also known as Christmas shearwaters – but their name has nothing to do with the holiday. They were first observed by Europeans on Kiritimati Atoll (“Christmas Island”) in the 1870s. Kiritimati Atoll, located about 1,300 miles southwest of Hawaiʻi is part of the nation of Kiribati. Kiritimati Atoll was formerly called “Christmas Island” – so named by Captain James Cook who sighted the island on Christmas Eve in 1777. Kiribati was claimed by the U.S. in 1856 and incorporated by Great Britain in 1919, and between 1957-1962 both the British and Americans conducted nuclear testing there. In 1979, the nation of Kiribati gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
