Records of petrels (families Oceanitidae and Procellariidae) in the Cook Islands, 1970 to present

The Cook Islands are a scattered group of mainly inhabited tropical islands in the South Pacific Ocean. We provide a comprehensive review of petrel and shearwater (Oceanitidae and Procellariidae) records for the Cook Islands. Records include new fossil and subfossil records; however, the focus is on specimen records and observations made on land since 1970. Records and observations comprise details of 13 species of seabirds within the order Procellariiformes, from the Northern and Southern Groups, Cook Islands. This paper includes extensions to the breeding ranges of some Procellariiformes within the South Pacific Ocean. Significant new records include confirmation of Herald petrel (Pterodroma heraldica) breeding on Rarotonga, and the suspected breeding of black-winged petrel (P. nigripennis) on Ātiu, wedge-tailed shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) on Aitutaki, and tropical shearwater (Puffinus dichrous) on Mangaia. A thorough field survey across all islands needs to be conducted to determine more completely the breeding status and distribution of these species, and to potentially locate other species. We recommend surveys using a range of methods to determine the breeding status of species in the Cook Islands and, importantly, developing local capacity towards improving conservation efforts to protect Procellariiformes, including urgent predator control at some locations on Rarotonga.