Manx Shearwater

The Manx Shearwater, Puffinus puffinus, is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae.

This species breeds in the eastern North Atlantic, with major colonies on islands and coastal cliffs around Great Britain and Ireland. It nests in burrows which are only visited at night to avoid predation by large gulls.

This bird has the typically "shearing" flight of the genus, dipping from side to side on stiff wings with few wingbeats, the wingtips almost touching the water. This bird looks like a flying cross, with its wing held at right angles to the body, and it changes from black to white as the black upperparts and white undersides are alternately exposed as it travels low over the sea.

This is a gregarious species, which can been seen in large numbers from boats or headlands, especially on passage in autumn.

It is silent at sea, but at night the breeding colonies are alive with raucous cackling calls.

The Manx Shearwater feeds on fish and molluscs. It does not follow boats.

Despite the scientific name, this species is completely unrelated to the puffins, which are auks, the only resemblence being that they are both burrow-nesting seabirds.