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Atlantic puffin size7/21/2023 Often, one stands outside the entrance while the other excavates, kicking out quantities of soil and grit. Upon returning to breeding grounds Atlantic puffins soon start to excavate burrows on grassy clifftops or may reuse existing holes, and on occasion may nest in crevices and among rocks and scree. The male spends more time guarding and maintaining the nest, while the female is more involved in incubation and feeding the chick. Then, the slopes empty for the night as puffins fly out to sea to roost, often choosing to do so at fishing grounds ready for early-morning fishing.Ītlantic puffins are monogamous and mate for life. The colony is most active in the evening, with birds standing outside their burrows, resting on the turf, or strolling around. They also spend time standing by their burrow entrances and interacting with passing birds. On the ground, they spend much time preening, spreading oil from their preen gland, and setting each feather in its correct position with beak or claw. Each large puffin colony is divided into subcolonies by physical boundaries such as stands of bracken or gorse. In the spring, mature birds return to land, usually to the colony where they were hatched. They fish by sight and can swallow small fish while submerged, but larger specimens are brought to the surface. They swim fast and can reach considerable depths and stay submerged for up to a minute. When fishing, puffins swim underwater using their wings as paddles to "fly" through the water and their feet as a rudder. However, when out at sea, they prefer to stay solitary and bob about like a cork, propelling themselves through the water with powerful thrusts of their feet. They are sociable birds and they usually breed in large colonies. Test your puffin smarts with this fun quiz and check out the book Penguins vs.Atlantic puffins spend most of the year far from land in the open ocean and only visit coastal areas to breed. By the time the puffling leaves its burrow, each parent will have dove 12,420 times. The puffling swallows the fish head first and whole. In one day a parent may dive 276 times, bringing back 10 fish each time. They won’t return until it is their turn to lay eggs.Ī puffling eats so much food that both the mother and father have to supply it with fish. As it gets older, it will grow sturdy and smooth feathers to help it swim and fly.īorn on North Atlantic islands, pufflings leave their burrows after 45 days. When it first hatches, it looks like a furry ball of feathers. They line the burrow with feathers and grass before laying the egg that will incubate for 42 days.Ī baby puffin is known as a chick or puffling. Using their beaks and claws, puffins build their burrows between two boulders or in a rocky crevice. The pair often uses the same burrow they used the year before. They show affection by rubbing and tapping beaks. At the ages of 4-6, pairs of puffins often become mates for life, finding each other at their breeding colony year after year. They stay in colonies to limit their chances of being eaten by the herring gulls that fly overhead. In the spring and summer, thousands of puffins gather in colonies on the coasts and islands of the North Atlantic Ocean.
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