Globe › Birds › Manx shearwater
Manx shearwater migration Puffinus puffinus
▶ Follow the Manx shearwater across the big globe
Press ▶ to play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Puffinus puffinus |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 82 cm |
| Adult weight | 521 g (adult) |
| IUCN status | Least concern |
| Records mapped | 149,187 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q208405 (CC0).
When does the Manx shearwater arrive in the UK?
A summer visitor in the records: sightings rise sharply from mid May, are near their peak by mid June, and fall away after early October.
Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 52,315 UK records. Weekly counts from the GBIF occurrence search API (country=GB). Dates are read from records, not from a survey, so treat them as a guide.
When do they arrive in and leave the UK? →
Migration in the data
149,187 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in August (about 55°N) and furthest south in January (about 12°N).
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 12°N | 36% |
| February | 14°N | 31% |
| March | 48°N | 3% |
| April | 50°N | 2% |
| May | 53°N | 0% |
| June | 54°N | 0% |
| July | 55°N | 1% |
| August | 55°N | 0% |
| September | 46°N | 0% |
| October | 47°N | 0% |
| November | 32°N | 4% |
| December | 46°N | 0% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the Manx shearwater
The Manx shearwater 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 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” (revision 1380155559), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=5229380&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.