Manx shearwater
Puffinus puffinus (Brünnich, 1764)
The manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) is a species in the family Procellariidae, order Procellariiformes. Recorded adults weigh 439 g to 521 g and live up to 30 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the manx shearwater
- Weight
- 439 g – 521 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 82 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 30 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 50.9 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 51 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 4.5 years – 5.47 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the manx shearwater?
Where does the manx shearwater live?
Not recorded
What is the manx shearwater?
The Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an Anglo-Norman word (Middle English pophyn) for the cured carcasses of nestling shearwaters. The Atlantic puffin acquired the name much later, possibly because of its similar nesting habits.
From the Wikipedia article “Manx shearwater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manx_shearwater&oldid=1383653497), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the manx shearwater endangered?
The manx shearwater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the manx shearwater classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderProcellariiformes
- familyProcellariidae
- genusPuffinus
- SpeciesPuffinus puffinus (Brünnich, 1764)
Synonyms Procellaria anglorum, Procellaria puffinus, Procellaria rufinus, Puffinus anglorum, Puffinus mcgalli, Puffinus puffinus bermudae
Other names and names in other languages (72)
- Manks shearwaterEnglish
- SwartbekpylstormvoëlAfrikaans
- Manx-pylstormvoëlAfrikaans
- جلم ماء مانكسArabic
- جلم الماء مانكسArabic
- Gaviota fina chicotaAragonese
- pardiellaAsturian
- Обикновен буревестникBulgarian
- Атлантически буревестникBulgarian
- Tort boutinBreton
- baldriga pufíCatalan
- buřňák severníCzech
- Adar Drycin ManawWelsh
- aderyn drycin ManawWelsh
- Aderyn-Drycin ManawWelsh
- almindelig skråpeDanish
- AtlantiksturmtaucherGerman
- Schwarzschnabel-SturmtaucherGerman
- SchwarzschnabelsturmtaucherGerman
- Nordmara pufinoEsperanto
- atlantika pufinoEsperanto
- Pardela ManxSpanish
- Fardela atlánticaSpanish
- Pampero pichonetaSpanish
- Pardela borealSpanish
- Pardela pichonetaSpanish
- põhja-tormilindEstonian
- Gabai arruntBasque
- Gabai arruntaBasque
- pikkuliitäjäFinnish
- SkrápurFaroese
- Puffin de ManxFrench
- Puffin des AnglaisFrench
- sgrailScottish Gaelic
- cánóg dhubhScottish Gaelic
- sgraileanScottish Gaelic
- Pardela furabuchosGalician
- ScraaylManx
- יסעור מצויHebrew
- יסעור אטלנטיHebrew
- mali zovojCroatian
- atlanti vészmadárHungarian
- SkrofaIcelandic
- Berta minore atlanticaItalian
- マンクスミズナギドリJapanese
- ScudhenCornish
- atlantinė audronašaLithuanian
- melnknābja vētrasputnsLatvian
- noordse pijlstormvogelDutch
- havlireNorwegian Nynorsk
- TrayeuxPicard
- burzyk północnyPolish
- PatagarroPortuguese
- Bobo-pequenoPortuguese
- EstapagadoPortuguese
- Fura-bucho do AtlânticoPortuguese
- fura-bucho-do-atlânticoPortuguese
- pardela-sombriaPortuguese
- Малый буревестникRussian
- обыкновенный буревестникRussian
- UhcasaddiNorthern Sami
- víchrovník malýSlovak
- atlantski viharnikSlovenian
- lajmëtari i vogël i fortunesAlbanian
- Obični zovojSerbian
- mindre liraSwedish
- Atlantik yelkovanıTurkish
- kara gagalı yelkovanTurkish
- Буревісник малийUkrainian
- Звичайний буревісникUkrainian
- 普通鸌Chinese
- 大西洋鹱Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the manx shearwater
Other species in the same genus Puffinus.
Balearic shearwater
Puffinus mauretanicus
Sargasso shearwater
Puffinus lherminieri
Little shearwater
Puffinus assimilis
Yelkouan shearwater
Puffinus yelkouan
Christmas shearwater
Puffinus nativitatis
Fluttering shearwater
Puffinus gavia
CompareManx shearwater vs Balearic shearwaterManx shearwater vs Sargasso shearwaterManx shearwater vs Little shearwaterManx shearwater vs Yelkouan shearwater
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the manx shearwater?
An adult manx shearwater weighs 439 g – 521 g and has a wingspan of 82 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the manx shearwater endangered?
The manx shearwater is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the manx shearwater live?
The manx shearwater has a recorded lifespan of 30 years.
What kind of animal is the manx shearwater?
The manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) belongs to the family Procellariidae in the order Procellariiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/manx-shearwater
“Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/manx-shearwater.
@misc{manx_shearwater_2026,
title = {Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/manx-shearwater},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}