Nests in small numbers on Moku Manu Is. off O'ahu and on Ka'ula Rock off Ni'ihau. Large colonies found on islands of northwest chain and throughout north and central Pacific Ocean. Also known as the Christmas Island Shearwater. Entirely sooty black with short, rounded tail.
Downy chick is black.
Similar to that of Wedge-Tailed Shearwater, but part of basic call has a distinctive nasal quality. Christmas Shearwaters are graceful in flight, with stiffer and faster wingbeats and rounder wings than the Wedge-Tailed Shearwater. The adults return to nesting islands in March and depart in early fall. Immatures depart the nesting islands in November. Adult behavior around the colony is similar to that of other shearwaters.