Puffinus Puffinus Puffinus is a genus of seabirds in the order Procellariiformes. It comprises about 20 small to medium-sized shearwaters. Two other shearwater genera are named: "Calonectris", which comprises three or four large shearwaters, and "Ardenna" with another seven species (formerly often included within "Puffinus"). "Puffinus" is a New Latin loanword based on the English "puffin". The original Latin term for shearwaters was usually the catchall name for sea-birds, "mergus". "Puffin" and its variants, such as poffin, pophyn and puffing, referred to the cured carcass of the fat nestling of the shearwater, a former delicacy. The original usage dates from at
Diego Garcia Other nesting native birds include red-tailed tropicbirds ("Phaethon rubricauda"), wedge-tailed shearwaters ("Puffinus pacificus"), Audubon's shearwater ("Puffinus iherminierii"), black-naped terns ("Sterna sumatrana"), white (or fairy) terns ("Gygis alba"), striated herons ("Butorides striatus"), and white-breasted waterhens ("Amaurornis phoenicurus"). The 680-hectare Barton Point Nature Reserve was identified as an Important Bird Area for its large breeding colony of red-footed boobies. The island hosts introduced bird species from many regions, including cattle egrets ("Bubulcus ibis"), Indian barred ground dove, also called the zebra dove ("Geopelia striata"), turtle dove ("Nesoenas picturata"), Indian mynah ("Acridotheres tristis"), Madagascar fody ("Foudia madagascariensis"), and chickens ("Gallus gallus"). Currently, three