Atlantic Puffins
The Atlantic Puffin’s Latin name is Fratercula arctica and it is of the Auk Family.
It is an amber listed species mainly due to food shortages. This is believed to be due to climate change and overfishing which both have an adverse effect on its primary food source, sand eels.
Puffins prefer offshore islands and high seacliffs, and nest in burrows, under boulders or in cracks in cliffs where predators cannot easily reach them. In the UK natural predators are limited however in Iceland they are still hunted.
They lay one egg and their young are called pufflings. Their maximum lifespan is about 29 years and they are quite small with a wingspan of 26-29cm and weighing about 400g.
They can dive to 100m and the most recorded number of sand eels in one puffin’s beak was 64!
They are designed for diving and have short wings which means in order to fly they have to beat at up to 400 beats a minute.
They may look cute but they are very robust and have sharp claws on the ends of their webbed feet to go with a formidable beak. When the breeding season is over they shed their coloured beaks.
Here is a selection of images that I hope captures the nature and character of this sturdy little bird.
It is an amber listed species mainly due to food shortages. This is believed to be due to climate change and overfishing which both have an adverse effect on its primary food source, sand eels.
Puffins prefer offshore islands and high seacliffs, and nest in burrows, under boulders or in cracks in cliffs where predators cannot easily reach them. In the UK natural predators are limited however in Iceland they are still hunted.
They lay one egg and their young are called pufflings. Their maximum lifespan is about 29 years and they are quite small with a wingspan of 26-29cm and weighing about 400g.
They can dive to 100m and the most recorded number of sand eels in one puffin’s beak was 64!
They are designed for diving and have short wings which means in order to fly they have to beat at up to 400 beats a minute.
They may look cute but they are very robust and have sharp claws on the ends of their webbed feet to go with a formidable beak. When the breeding season is over they shed their coloured beaks.
Here is a selection of images that I hope captures the nature and character of this sturdy little bird.