Tufted puffin Latin "fratercula", friar, a reference to the black and white plumage which resembles monastic robes. The specific name "cirrhata" is Latin for "curly-headed", from "cirrus", a curl of hair. 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, the Manx shearwater ("Puffinus puffinus"), formerly known as the "Manks puffin". It is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English "pophyn" or "poffin") used for the cured carcasses. The Atlantic puffin acquired the name at a much later stage, possibly because of its similar nesting habits,
San Benedicto Island location where several seabirds of the tropical Eastern Pacific come to breed. Taxa breeding on San Benedicto are: The nearly extinct Townsend's shearwater ("Puffinus auricularis") does not seem to breed on San Benedicto, but can sometimes be seen feeding offshore. Given that there are no invasive species on San Benedicto and also no predators apart from the frigatebirds, the island might be highly suitable for establishing a new colony. Indeed, it bred here before the 1952 eruption; shearwaters are highly conservative in choosing their breeding locations, which explains why San Benedicto has not yet been recolonized. Vagrants of other species,