Atlantic puffin Medieval Latin "fratercula", friar, a reference to the black and white plumage which resembles monastic robes. The specific name "arctica" refers to the northerly distribution of the bird, being derived from the Greek ἄρκτος ("arktos"), the bear, referring to the northerly constellation, the Great Bear. 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 Manx shearwater ("Puffinus puffinus"), which in 1652 was known as the "Manks puffin". It is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English "pophyn" or "poffin") used for the cured carcasses.
Muttonbirding on 36 islands, known as the Titi or Muttonbird Islands, around Rakiura (Stewart Island), is managed entirely by Rakiura Māori. There is some evidence that this harvest has been occurring since at least the 17th century. Muttonbird may refer to various seabirds, particularly petrels in the genus "Puffinus", called shearwaters, where the young birds are harvested for food and oil by being extracted by hand from the nesting burrows before they fledge. Some species are: Muttonbirding Muttonbirding is the seasonal harvesting of the chicks of petrels, especially shearwater species, for food, oil and feathers by recreational or commercial hunters. Such