The Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) is a medium-sized seabird. They have long, narrow wings and the characteristic “tube nose”. The scientific name of this species derives from "puffin" and its variants, such as poffin, pophyn, and puffing, which referred to the cured carcass of the fat nestling of the shearwater. Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. The Atlantic puffin acquired the name much later, possibly because of its similar nesting habits.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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PiscivoresA piscivore is a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. Piscivorous is equivalent to the Greek-derived word ichthyophagous. Fish were the die...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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SeabirdSeabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, b...
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AquaticAn aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract ...
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GlidingGliding flight is heavier-than-air flight without the use of thrust and is employed by gliding animals. Birds in particular use gliding flight to m...
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Pursuit predatorPursuit predation is a form of predation in which predators actively give chase to their prey, either solitarily or as a group. Pursuit predators r...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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FlockingFlocking birds are those that tend to gather to forage or travel collectively. Avian flocks are typically associated with migration. Flocking also ...
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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starts withThe Manx shearwater has the typically "shearing" flight of the genus, dipping from side to side on stiff wings with few wingbeats, the wingtips almost touching the water. This bird looks like a flying cross, with its wings held at right angles to the body, and it changes from black to white as the black upper parts and white undersides are alternately exposed as it travels low over the sea. The vision of the Manx shearwater has a number of adaptations to its way of life. Like other tube-nosed seabirds, it has a long, narrow area of visual sensitivity containing the fovea across the retina of the eye. This feature helps detect items in a small area projecting below and around the bill. It may assist in the detection of prey near the sea surface as a bird flies low over it. Since Manx shearwaters visit their breeding colony at night, they have adaptations for nocturnal vision, too; however, the effect is small, and these birds likely also use smell and hearing to locate their nests.
Manx shearwaters breed in the North Atlantic Ocean in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, France, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Azores, the Canary Islands, and Madeira. During the breeding season, birds regularly commute between their colonies and offshore feeding grounds that can be up to 1,500 km away. From July to March, Manx shearwaters migrate to the South Atlantic, wintering mainly off Brazil and Argentina, with smaller numbers off southwest South Africa.
Manx shearwaters spend most of their life at sea, typically flying within 10 m (30 ft) of the sea surface. They can be seen on land only during the nesting period and visit nesting colonies only at night to avoid predation. They can't walk on land but can only drag themselves over the ground. These are gregarious birds. They can be seen in large numbers from boats or headlands, especially on migration in autumn. They are silent at sea, but at night, the breeding colonies are alive with raucous cackling calls. Manx shearwaters feed during the daylight hours. They catch food off the surface or by pursuit diving and forage alone or in small flocks. They can be attracted by feeding cetaceans but rarely follow boats or associate with other shearwater species. Manx shearwaters also have an interesting behavior termed "rafting", where birds sit, often in large groups of more than 10,000, on the water adjacent to their Skomer Island breeding colony before and after visiting their chicks. Rafts move closer to the island during the night and further away in the morning which produces a "halo" effect - where no birds are found close to the island during daylight. These day-night cycles of rafting distributions are prominent for Manx shearwaters around Skomer Island and might provide a way of waiting for dusk that reduces predation risk.
Manx shearwaters are carnivores (piscivores). They feed on small fish (herrings, sprats, and sand eels), crustaceans, cephalopods, and surface offal. They can detect food items at a distance of several tens of kilometers using their sense of smell to detect offal. They track across the wind until they find a scent and then follow it upwind to its origin.
Manx shearwaters are monogamous and form strong pair bonds that remain together for life. They return to the breeding colonies from March onwards. The females often then leave again for 2-3 weeks before egg-laying in early May. Males return to the colonies in which they were hatched, but up to half of females may move elsewhere. The nest is a burrow, often previously excavated by a European rabbit, although shearwaters can dig their own holes. Suitable holes under rocks may also be used. The burrows may be reused in subsequent years. The female lays one egg and both parents share the incubation that lasts 47-66 days. At hatching, both parents tend and feed their chick. After about 2 months, parents leave their young and the chick flies to the sea alone. Juvenile birds undertake their first migration without their parents. Only a few days after leaving the nest, shearwaters can already travel up to 2000 km.
In the Macaronesian islands in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the populations of Manx shearwaters are declining due to human activities. These include birds stranded when dazzled by artificial lighting. As with other shearwaters and petrels, newly fledged Manx shearwaters are susceptible to grounding in built-up areas due to artificial light. The moon cycle and strong onshore winds largely influence grounding events in west Scotland, and visibility conditions to a lesser extent. Around 1000-5000 chicks a year are legally taken for food in the Faroes. Introduced mammals are a problem, although populations can recover when rats and cats are removed from islands. Rabbits may try to occupy burrows but also dig new tunnels.
According to the IUCN Red List, the total population size of the Manx shearwater is around 1,000,000 individuals. In Europe, the breeding population consists of 342,000-393,000 breeding pairs, equating to 684,000-785,000 mature individuals or 1,026,000-1,177,500 individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...