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The English name "puffin" – puffed in the sense of swollen – was originally applied to the fatty, salted meat of young birds of the unrelated Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), formerly known as the "Manks puffin". [2] Puffin is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English pophyn or poffin) for the cured carcasses of nestling Manx shearwaters. [3]
The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean ; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin being found in the northeastern Pacific .
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.
An ecologist from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology said the deaths are the most significant they have seen at this time of year.
The Atlantic puffin, which feeds on small fish such as herring and hake, is listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The birds can grow nearly a foot ...
Puffinus is a Neo-Latin loanword based on the English "puffin". The original Latin term for shearwaters was usually the catchall name for sea-birds, mergus. [8] "Puffin" and its variants, such as poffin, pophyn and puffing, [9] referred to the cured carcass of the fat nestling of the shearwater, a former delicacy. [10]
The number of Puffin nests in Alderney has almost trebled since the island's wildlife trust starting monitoring the animals in 2005. Alderney Wildlife Trust said the latest Puffin Survey found 330 ...
Larger species, such as the great skua, regularly kill and eat adult seabirds, such as puffins and gulls and have been observed killing birds as large as a grey heron. [5] On the breeding grounds, the three, more slender northern breeding species commonly eat lemmings. Those species that breed in the southern oceans largely feed on fish that ...