Manx shearwater Morten Thrane Brünnich as "Procellaria puffinus" in 1764. The current scientific name "Puffinus" derives from "puffin" and its variants, such as poffin, pophyn and puffing, which referred to the cured carcass of the fat nestling of the shearwater, a former delicacy. The original usage dates from at least 1337, but from as early as 1678 the term gradually came to be used for another seabird, the Atlantic puffin. The current English name was first recorded in 1835 and refers to the former nesting of this species on the Isle of Man. The Manx shearwater is with a wingspan and weighs
Hutton's shearwater a white underbelly and brown collar, dark borders to the underwing, dark grey bill, and pinkish dark-webbed feet; it can be distinguished from fluttering shearwater by its dark grey "armpits". At a breeding colony it has a loud cackling call. Hutton's shearwater feeds in the open ocean largely on small fish and krill, diving up to 20 m. "Puffinus huttoni" have long bills, which are adapted to catch prey more or less underwater by plunging from a few meters above the surface or by paddling slowly forwards searching with their head submerged, then diving using partly opened wings for propulsion.