Manx shearwaters

Manx shearwater
On Skomer Bird recorded on Skomer Island, Wales
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Procellariiformes
Family:	Procellariidae
Genus:	Puffinus
Species:	P. puffinus
Binomial name
Puffinus puffinus (Brünnich, 1764)
Synonyms
Procellaria puffinus Brünnich, 1764

Procellaria puffinus Brünnich, 1764

The Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English pophyn) for the cured carcasses of nestling shearwaters. The Atlantic puffin acquired the name much later, possibly because of its similar nesting habits.

The shearwaters form part of the Procellariidae family, a widespread group containing nearly 100 species of medium to large seabirds. They have long, narrow wings and the characteristic “tubenose”. The large genus Puffinus includes several species formerly considered to be subspecies of the Manx shearwater, including the yelkouan shearwater, Balearic shearwater, Hutton's shearwater, black-vented shearwater, fluttering shearwater,Townsend's shearwater and the Hawaiian shearwater. Of these, the Hawaiian and possibly Townsend's shearwaters seem to be most closely related to the Manx shearwater.

Three extinct species appear to be closely related to the Manx shearwater, the lava shearwater, the dune shearwater and Scarlett's shearwater.DNA recovered from the lava shearwater of the Canary Islands suggests that it is the Manx shearwater’s sister species despite being significantly smaller.