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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
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 ]
Auks or alcids are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. [1] The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets.The family contains 25 extant or recently extinct species that are divided into 11 genera.
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]
A 2006 study found individual tagged sooty shearwaters from New Zealand migrating 64,000 km (40,000 mi) a year, [2] which gave them the then longest known animal migration ever recorded electronically (though subsequently greatly exceeded by a tagged arctic tern migrating 96,000 km (60,000 mi) [3]).
3. The Irish Elk. The Irish elk (also known as Megaloceros) was hunted to extinction by early man. This episode describes how overhunting and climate change killed this wonderful creature. 4. The Great Auk. This episode discusses the tragedy of the great auk, a puffin-like seabird killed by Europeans. Features a seabird ecologist, Dr Bill ...
The Atlantic puffin acquired the name at a much later stage, possibly because of its similar nesting habits, [11] and it was formally applied to Fratercula arctica by Pennant in 1768. [9] While the species is also known as the common puffin, "Atlantic puffin" is the English name recommended by the International Ornithological Congress. [12]
The vernacular name puffin – puffed in the sense of swollen – was originally applied to the fatty, salted meat of young birds of the unrelated species, the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), [3] formerly known as the "Manks puffin". It is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English pophyn or poffin) used for the cured carcasses. [4]