Puffinus

Puffinus is a genus of seabirds in the order Procellariiformes. It comprises about 20 small to medium-sized shearwaters. There are two other shearwater genera: Calonectris, which comprises three large shearwaters, and Procellaria with another four large species. The latter are usually named as petrels, although they are thought to be more closely related to the shearwaters than to the other petrels. Despite the resemblance in the name, the puffins are auks, and completely unrelated to the shearwaters in the genus Puffinus.

The taxonomy of this group is the cause of much debate, and the number of recognised species depends on the source. The list below follows Handbook of Birds of the World (volume 1, ISBN 84-87334-10-5).

The species in this group are long-winged birds, dark brown or black above, and white to dark brown below. They are pelagic outside the breeding season. Thesy are most common in temperate and cold waters.

These tubenose birds fly with stiff wings, and use a shearing flight technique to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight. Some small species, like Manx Shearwater are cruciform in flight, with their long wing held directly out from their bodies.

Many are long-distance migrants, perhaps most spectacularly the Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters which perform migrations of 14,000 km or more each year.

Puffinus shearwaters come to islands and coastal cliffs only to breed. They are nocturnal at the colonial breeding sites, preferring moonless nights. This is to minimise predation. They nest in burrows and often give eerie contact calls on their nighttime visits. They lay a single white egg.

They feed on fish, squid and similar oceanic food. Some will follow fishing boats to take scraps, notably Sooty Shearwater; these species also commoly follow whales to feed on fish disturbed by them.

List of species

• Genus Puffinus
• * Wedge-tailed Shearwater, P. pacificus
• * Buller's Shearwater, P. bulleri
• * Flesh-footed Shearwater, P. carneipes
• * Pink-footed shearwater, P. creatopus
• * Great Shearwater, P. gravis
• * Sooty Shearwater, P. griseus
• * Short-tailed Shearwater or Mutton bird, P. tenuirostris
• * Heinroth's Shearwater, P. heinrothi
• * Christmas Shearwater, P. nativatis
• * Fluttering Shearwater, P. gavia
• * Hutton's Shearwater, P. huttoni
• * Manx Shearwater, P. puffinus
• * Yelkouan Shearwater, P. yelkouan
• * Mediterranean Shearwater, P. mauretanicus
• * Black-vented Shearwater, P. opisthomelas
• * Townsend's Shearwater, P. auriculatus
• * Hawaiian Shearwater, P. newelli
• * Audubon's Shearwater, P. lherminieri
• * Little Shearwater, P. assimilis

  Reference

• Seabirds by Harrison, ISBN 0-7470-8028-8