I read this wonderful article giving the history of a biologist who set out to restore the puffin population and succeeded! You should definitely read this article!

Photo Source: Jose Azel

(Photo Source) http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachdavies/4536304212/in/set-72157622464609790/ or by flickr name (camera lass) (Davies Photography) http://www.daviesphotography.webs.com/)

This year has been a good one for the puffins in the Forth Islands off the Scottish coasts near Edinburgh. Tree fallow covered the islands of Craigleith and Fidra obstructing the puffins’ burrows, preventing them from entering where they lay and tend to their eggs. Volunteers have been working hard to clear out all the tree fallow and the numbers look promising so far!

You can read more about it here.

Congratulations to the Forth of Firth Islands for doing what was necessary to help their puffins survive and thrive! =) YAY for volunteers who care! And yay for puffins!

In the past 30 years, the tufted puffins populations along the Oregon coast have dramatically decreased from 5,000 to just a few hundred. This is such a drastic decline in population and the reasons are varied and uncertain. Predatory birds, climate change, overpopulation (people), changing ocean conditions, and simply not enough food and space for the birds to thrive as they once did.

This is the story of many coastal places where puffins once were aplenty.

We must change our ways or we will see the bright, quirky little birds disappear completely.

Read more here.

According to the 2010 State of the Birds:

Oceanic birds are among the most vulnerable species because they don’t raise many young each year; they face challenges from a rapidly changing marine ecosystem; and they nest on islands that may be flooded as sea levels rise. All 67 oceanic bird species, such as petrels and albatrosses, are among the most vulnerable birds on Earth to climate change.

Puffins are at risk because they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Read more on their website.

The pufflings can become disorientated by lights on the Scottish isle

People talented at sewing are being asked to make cotton drawstring bags to help save lost puffin chicks on the remote Scottish isle of St Kilda.

Dozens of the baby birds become disorientated each year by lights from buildings housing ranger staff and end up inland, instead of out to sea.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) said rangers would use the bags to rescue the animals and keep them safe.

The pufflings will be then taken to the coast and released back into the water.

Read more…

((Original Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7793919.stm))

Scientists are worried that puffins are getting underweight and dying because they haven’t got enough fish to eat in the North Sea.

The Firth of Forth in Scotland is home to one of the UK’s largest puffin colonies.

But experts who’ve been counting the seabirds there say their numbers have fallen by about a third in five years.

They think climate change could be to blame for the birds not having enough to eat.

Read more…

((Original Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7430000/newsid_7434900/7434966.stm))

Scientists are gluing tags to puffins to try and figure out why their numbers are dropping.

Puffin numbers had been rising over the last few years, but last year showed a sudden sharp drop.

So researchers on the UK’s biggest puffin colony, the Farne islands, are gluing little recording devices to the birds to track where they go.

Read More…

((original source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8120000/newsid_8127900/8127972.stm))

Photo by David Cheskin

A puffin at the Seabird Centre’s SOS Puffin project, a conservation project to reinstate puffins on Craigleith Island, near Edinburgh. Photo: David Cheskin

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An Atlantic puffin on Maine's on Eastern Egg Rock appears to imitate a decoy on July 9 by standing on one leg. Decoys were used to lure the gregarious birds ashore after they were re-introduced to the island following a 100-year absence. Photo by Robert F. Bukaty / AP

Hunted to extinction in state, they’re thriving thanks to human help Puffins, which resemble half-pint penguins except that they can fly, were heavily hunted along the Maine coast for their meat and feathers, and by 1901 only one pair remained, researchers said. Puffins are often confused with penguins. They have similar colors, and both swim under water using their wings as fins, but they are not related and live at opposite polar ends of the world.

In 1973, with backing from the National Audubon Society and help from the Canadian Wildlife Service, Kress began transplanting 2-week-old puffin chicks from Great Island off Newfoundland, 1,000 miles to the northeast.

These days there are 90 nesting pairs on Eastern Egg, among more than 700 nesting pairs on four Maine islands, Kress said.

read more | digg story

Predators are a natural part of life. And while uber adorable puffins also have predators. Each puffin has its own set of predators.

What are the puffin predators? What preys on Puffins?

Predators of the Atlantic puffin include people; gulls and skuas including the Great Black-backed Gull, the Great Skua, the Herring Gull amongst others; rats; cats; dogs; and foxes. Puffins are also vulnerable to pollution, fishing nets, declining fish populations, and global warming.

Predators of the Tufted Puffins include people, unfortunately. Tufted Puffins have three major predators the Snowy Owl, Bald Eagles and Arctic Foxes. They are also vulnerable due to decreasing fish population, ocean pollution and oil spills.

Predators of the Horned Puffin include people as well. Horned Puffins also are preyed upon by gulls, foxes, larger predatory birds and rats. Traffic, oil spills, ocean pollution, over-fishing and the resulting declining fish population as well as global warming are also affecting their survival rate.

Puffins do have some unique abilities to protect themselves from predators. Their bill is very hard and colorful to warn other animals of the pain it can cause. For predators flying above puffins blend into the water while swimming which they do more often than not. This is due to their black backs, heads and sides. Underwater, the puffin also has an advantage. The underwater predators are fooled by the puffin’s white bellies mistaking them for glimpses of the sun.