Puffin

Puffins – Species of Auk

Puffins are any of three small species of auk: Atlantic, Tuffed, and Horned.

Physical Characteristics

Puffins are stocky, have short wings and tails, and are black and white or some have brown on them. The head is black capped with a white face and the feed are an orangish red color. When it is breeding season, the beak turns bright colors to attract the females. Then, that falls off afterwards. They get between a foot and 15 inches long, have a wingspan of between 21 and 25 inches long, and weigh between 13 ounces and about two pounds.

Habitat and Location

The Atlantic variety lives in northern Europe as far south as France, including the UK, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Norway and Canada to Maine. The Horned variety lives in the North Pacific in Sibera. Alaska, British Colombia and it spends its winters in California. The Tuffed variety lives in the North Pacific in British Columbia, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, the Kuril Islands and in the Sea of Okhotsk. It winters in Honshu and California.

The majority of the Atlantic variety of puffins lives in Iceland where there are estimated to be more than 10 million pairs. The Icelanders hunt the puffins for their meat and eggs and it is considered a delicacy on Icelandic menus. It is said to have a somewhat fishy taste.

Diet

Puffins seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water to catch fish like herring, sandeel, and capelin. Plus, they also feed on zooplankton. They are capable of holding more than a dozen fish in their beaks at once as they carry the food back to their chicks. This is due to a special hinge in their beak.

Breeding Facts

Puffins breed together in colonies on the coasts of islands. The male builds the nest of the Atlantic Puffin, while both sexes of the other two build their nests. The Tuffed Puffin actually digs a burrow to lay its eggs and it may reach lengths of up to 9 feet!

The nests of the other two are usually soft dirt and tunnels lined with grass or leaves or it may be left bare. Puffins mate in long term pair bonds and lay one egg, which both parents sit on. Both also fed the check when it is born, and a baby puffin is called a puffling. After the puffling grows its feathers, it spends a few years at sea and then can breed at around 5 years old.

Puffin In Flight – West Wales – World Of Nature