---
title: "Manx Shearwater"
description: "Puffinus puffinus — Birds. The Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/manx-shearwater
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Manx Shearwater

> Puffinus puffinus — Birds. The Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae.

- Scientific name: *Puffinus puffinus*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 2574
- Wikidata: [Q208405](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q208405)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4093](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4093)

## Names

- en: Manx Shearwater
- de: Schwarzschnabelsturmtaucher
- es: Pardela boreal
- fr: Puffin des anglais
- nl: Noordse pijlstormvogel
- pt: Bobo-pequeno
- pl: Burzyk północny

## Countries with the most observations

GB (474), US (297), IE (238), FR (94), AR (87), IS (74), PT (42), ES (34), CA (30), BR (27), UY (21), IM (20)

## Summary

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.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_shearwater

## Photo

![Manx Shearwater](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/manx-shearwater/medium.jpg)

Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/331397311

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/manx-shearwater?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).