Distribution

The Pink-footed Shearwater occurs almost exclusively in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where it migrates between the breeding range in the central and southern Humboldt Current System, and the nonbreeding range in the northern Humboldt and California Current Systems (8 Murphy, R. C. (1936) Oceanic birds of South America. Volume 2. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA. Close , 25 Ainley, D. G. (1976). The occurrence of seabirds in the coastal region of California. Western Birds 7:33–68. Close , 26 Guzman, J. R., and M. T. Myres (1983). The occurrence of Shearwaters off the west coast of Canada. Canadian Journal of Zoology 61:2064–2077. Close , 27 COSEWIC (2016). COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa, Canada. Close , 16 Felis, J. J., J. Adams, P. J. Hodum, R. D. Carle, and V. Colodro (2019). Eastern Pacific migration strategies of Pink-footed Shearwaters Ardenna creatopus: Implications for fisheries interactions and international conservation. Endangered Species Research 39:269–282. Close ). Breeds only on islands off the coast of central Chile (8 Murphy, R. C. (1936) Oceanic birds of South America. Volume 2. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA. Close ).

Breeding Range

Known to nest on three islands in Chile: Isla Mocha, Isla Robinson Crusoe (also known as Más a Tierra), and Isla Santa Clara (8 Murphy, R. C. (1936) Oceanic birds of South America. Volume 2. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA. Close ). Isla Mocha (38.36°S, 73.92°W; surface area 47.82 km²) is located at the shelf break, 35 km offshore of south-central Chile. Isla Robinson Crusoe (33.67°S, 78.84°W; surface area 52 km²) and Isla Santa Clara (33.70°S, 78.94°W; surface area 2.21 km²) are part of the oceanic Juan Fernández Islands, located 670 km west of the South American continent (8 Murphy, R. C. (1936) Oceanic birds of South America. Volume 2. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA. Close , 4 Brooke, M. (2004). Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Several islands in south-central Chile with potential nesting habitat have not been thoroughly searched for nesting Pink-footed Shearwater, including Isla Guafo (43.60°S, 74.70°W), a large island south of Chiloé.

During the breeding period, birds primarily forage in waters over the narrow continental shelf, within 25 km of shore (28 Adams, J., J. J. Felis, M. Czapanskiy, R. D. Carle, and P. J. Hodum (2019). Diving behavior of Pink-footed Shearwaters Ardenna creatopus rearing chicks on Isla Mocha, Chile. Marine Ornithology 47:17–24. Close , 29 Carle, R. D., J. J. Felis, R. Vega, J. Beck, J. Adams, V. López, P.J. Hodum, A. González, V. Colodro, and T. Varela (2019). Overlap of Pink-footed Shearwaters and central Chilean purse-seine fisheries: Implications for bycatch risk. Condor: Ornithological Applications 2019:1–13. Close ; see Habitat in Breeding Range). Birds from the Juan Fernández Islands also forage in deeper waters around the archipelago (Oikonos, unpublished data). See Movements and Migration: Movement for details on at-sea habitat during breeding period.

Nonbreeding Range

During the nonbreeding period (austral winter), occurs in the eastern Pacific Ocean less than 1,000 km from mainland coasts in waters from northern Chile to the northern Gulf of Alaska (16 Felis, J. J., J. Adams, P. J. Hodum, R. D. Carle, and V. Colodro (2019). Eastern Pacific migration strategies of Pink-footed Shearwaters Ardenna creatopus: Implications for fisheries interactions and international conservation. Endangered Species Research 39:269–282. Close , 6 eBird (2021). eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ). Core nonbreeding period areas include continental shelf (< 200 m depth) and slope (200–1000 m depth) waters off Peru from Trujillo to Lima, central Baja California, Mexico, and the west coast of North America from southern California, United States to northern Vancouver Island, Canada (27 COSEWIC (2016). COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa, Canada. Close , 16 Felis, J. J., J. Adams, P. J. Hodum, R. D. Carle, and V. Colodro (2019). Eastern Pacific migration strategies of Pink-footed Shearwaters Ardenna creatopus: Implications for fisheries interactions and international conservation. Endangered Species Research 39:269–282. Close ). Some individuals also visit the Gulf of California, Mexico (30 Tershy, B. R., E. Van Gelder, and D. Breese (1993). Relative abundance and seasonal distribution of seabirds in the Canal de Ballenas, Gulf of California. Condor 95(2):458–464. Close , 16 Felis, J. J., J. Adams, P. J. Hodum, R. D. Carle, and V. Colodro (2019). Eastern Pacific migration strategies of Pink-footed Shearwaters Ardenna creatopus: Implications for fisheries interactions and international conservation. Endangered Species Research 39:269–282. Close ).

Extralimital Records

Recorded as a vagrant west to Hawai‘i, Kiribati (Line Islands), New Zealand, and Australia (31 Marchant, S., and P. J. Higgins, Editors (1990). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 1. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia. Close , 4 Brooke, M. (2004). Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). There have been more records in New Zealand as data sources such as eBird have expanded, suggesting it may occur more regularly there than previously thought (27 COSEWIC (2016). COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa, Canada. Close , 6 eBird (2021). eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ). There is a single Atlantic Ocean record from Chubut Province, Argentina, in May 1981 (32 Mazar Barnett, J., and J. R. Navas (1998). Primer registro de la Pardela Patas Rosas Puffinus creatopus en las costas argentinas. El Hornero 15:43–44. Close ).

Based on interviews with elderly residents, the species may have formerly nested on Isla Santa Maria, Chile (37.02°S, 73.52°W; Oikonos unpublished data). However, a search of the main island in 2017 indicated it is probably extirpated there due to extensive human impacts (Oikonos, unpublished data). One islet off the north coast of Isla Santa Maria, called Islote Farallón ( ) is uninhabited by humans. This islet was not searched and could have suitable habitat.