Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus)

About Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus)

• Kingdom: Animals
• Phylum: Chordates
• Class: Birds
• Order: Tubenoses
• Family: Shearwaters and Petrels

The Balearic shearwater is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. Puffinus is a Neo-Latin loanword based on the English "puffin" and its variants, that referred to the cured carcass of the fat nestling of the Manx shearwater, a former delicacy. The specific mauretanicus refers to Mauretania, an old name for an area of North Africa roughly corresponding to Morocco and Algeria. The Balearic Shearwater is listed critically endangered by the IUCN and is one of Europe's most endangered seabirds.