Puffins! My absolute favourite seabirds are Puffins, specifically the Atlantic puffin. I think that everyone knows these little black and white birds with a very colourful beak. I first saw them in the wild when I was 5 years old on the Farne islands in England. And it was then and there where I fell in love with them. I can't really describe why I love them so much, there is just a joy in me when I see them. Even seeing a picture of puffins can put a smile on my face! And everyone I speak to who have seen puffins in the wild just loves them.
What makes them so loved?
It might be their clumsiness on land or the colour of their beaks or maybe its their sheer numbers in a colony and their social behaviour. Puffins are extremely social birds, they nest in colonies and have their nests (burrows) next to each other. These colonies can exist out of thousands of birds. They mostly nest on high islands with low vegetation and steep cliffs. They dig out their own burrow using their beak and feet, they build the nest in the burrow with grass and feathers. They reuse the same burrow year after year. Within this burrow they lay one egg, which they incubate for 36 to 45 days, after which a puffling hatches. The puffling stays in the burrow for the entire nesting period which last around 38 to 44 days. Most of the time they mate for life, when they see each other again they show a behaviour called billing. Billing is a behaviour where they rub their beaks together (see picture). Apparently billing is ''contagious'' in other words when a pair start billing and other puffins see it they start billing as well. Puffins reach sexual maturity after 4/5 years, only during the breeding season do puffins get their colourful beak. Outside of the breeding season the puffins' beak is very dull in colour.
Puffins fly by flapping their wings very fast which makes their wings look like a blur. Their wings are actually better suited to ''flying'' underwater. They use their wings to fly through the water and use their feet as rudders. They are able to stay underwater for a minute but on average they stay underwater for 20 to 30 seconds. The maximum depth of the dive is 60 meters. Underwater they catch small fishes such as sandeel and herring. They can hold several fishes in their beaks by holding them crosswise. Backward-pointed spines on the roof of their mouth and tongue help keep the fish in place.
Different species of puffins
Most people know of the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica (which means little brother from the north)), however there are 2 other species of puffins which live around the pacific ocean and coast (North America and Canada). These are the horned puffin (Fratercula corniculata) and the tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata). The behaviours of these two species is relatively the same as that of the Atlantic puffin.
A difference is that the horned puffin, unlike the Atlantic and tufted, doesn't nest in a burrow, but lays its eggs directly on the rocks. Most research has been done to the Atlantic puffin. And most research can be done while the puffins are breeding ( from mid April to mid August) as the rest of the year they can be found somewhere in the ocean far away from land.
Another difference with the tufted puffin and the horned and Atlantic puffin is the breeding season change of the beak, as the tufted puffin even changes a part of it plumages to get the white/ blond head plumes.
I still love puffins to bits and I have seen them close up a couple of times. My favourite experiences of seeing them where:
For breeding behaviour on the Isle of Staffa in the Scottish Hebrides. Staffa is small island where you can get quite close to the puffins, as they know that the humans are not a threat to them there. Of course you always need to threat them with respect, I found that the best way to observe them was to simply sit down on the cliff and let them come to you. When you stay quiet enough they might even land just a meter or 2 away from you.
For seeing them fly over the water and foraging behaviour I loved being on the water of Skjalfandi bay in northern Iceland. In Skjalfandi bay the puffins nest on Lundi (icelandic for puffin) Island. In Iceland however, puffins are a delicacy so you might see people caching puffins on the island. There are limits to how many puffins can be caught and only flying puffins are allowed to be caught.
I have yet to see the horned and the tufted puffin in the wild. But they are definitely on my list of animals I would love to see in the wild!
Sources:
Liebig, P., Pentony, H. and Taylor, E.T., 2018. An exploratory study into the behaviour of Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula artica) on Lundy. Retrieved from:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Henrietta-Pentony/publication/325876704_AN_EXPLORATORY_STUDY_INTO_THE_BEHAVIOUR_OF_ATLANTIC_PUFFINS_FRATERCULA_ARCTICA_ON_LUNDY/links/5b9fa9a9299bf13e6038913a/AN-EXPLORATORY-STUDY-INTO-THE-BEHAVIOUR-OF-ATLANTIC-PUFFINS-FRATERCULA-ARCTICA-ON-LUNDY.pdf
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