Crossing nearly 50 nations/territories & hundreds of cultural and linguistic groups, adopting an Indigenous name wouldn't have been appropriate. It can also put undue burden on Traditional Owners to come up with a new name (for a taxonomic concept they may or may not recognize!)

We gave this a LOT of thought, and it was not easy! But we think the Sable Shearwater balances the need to have an English common name free from colonialism and racism with the challenges of using Indigenous names of highly migratory species.