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.
Europa Island 100 pairs, probably of the subspecies "Puffinus lherminieri bailloni" previously considered endemic to the Mascarene Islands), dimorphic egrets and Caspian terns. The island is also home to an endemic subspecies of white-tailed tropicbird ("Phaethon lepturus europae"). There are three species of landbirds present, one of which is an endemic subspecies of the Malagasy white-eye ("Zosterops maderaspatanus voeltzkowi"). Additionally, the island is also home to its own species of hissing cockroach. Climate is affected by the Agulhas Current with water temperatures usually above 30 °C, southeast trade winds during the (austral) winter and occasional cyclones. While the island has probably been