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
Shearwater Shearwater Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds. There are more than 30 species of shearwaters, a few larger ones in the genus "Calonectris" and many smaller species in the genus "Puffinus". The "Procellaria" petrels and "Bulweria" were believed to belong to this group, but are only distantly related based on more recent studies, while the "Pseudobulweria" and "Lugensa" "petrels" are more closely related. The genus "Puffinus" can be divided into a group of small species close to "Calonectris" and a few larger ones more distantly related to both. These birds are most common in temperate and cold waters. They are pelagic