This is a hatched puffin egg. The beauty of it is mostly in tact. A beautiful speckled puffin egg:

(Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28190483@N07/3650595298/)

Both parents take care of the puffin eggs. The male puffins build a nest for the female. Then the female lays generally 1-5 eggs. Puffin parents are very protective guarding their puffin eggs diligently until they hatch approximately 40-43 days later.

Shetland.org has set up a live Puffin web cam and they are currently waiting for some pufflings to hatch! They are thought to be hatching between June 10th and June 15th! This means we can actually WATCH a puffling being hatched LIVE! How fantastic would that be!? A miracle for certain. And it is not like these little sea clowns won’t amuse us in the meanwhile, right?

Click on the link below or either picture to get to the Puffin cam

Here are some photos of puffin eggs.

Horned Puffin Egg

Atlantic Puffin Egg

Female puffins lay one egg and care for and protect it accordingly. If they only have one, it is important to ensure it survives. Both parents incubate the egg by holding it against a brood patch with their wings—one at a time. Once it hatches both parents also care for the young taking turns feeding it and watching it.

This abridged 1891 poem from Britain’s Punch, a satirical magazine, takes a swipe at oologists (egg collectors).

The “Brum” and the Oologist
Were walking hand in hand;
They grinned to see so many birds
On cliff, and rock, and sand.
“If we could only get their eggs,”
Said they, “It would be grand.”

“Well!” said that bland Oologist,
“We’ve had a lot of fun.
Next year, perhaps, these Shetland birds
We’ll visit—with a gun;
When—as we’ve taken all their eggs —
There’ll probably be none!”

Rhinocerus Auklet, photo: Alan Burger

Originally uploaded by BC Breeding Bird Atlas

The Rhinoceros Auklet, Cerorhinca monocerata, is a seabird considered, despite its name, a close relative of the puffins. It is the only living species of the genus Cerorhinca. Given its close relationship with the puffins the common name Rhinoceros Puffin has been proposed for the species.

It ranges widely across the North Pacific feeding on small fish and nesting in seabird colonies. Its name is derived from a horn-like extension of the beak. This horn is only present in breeding adults, and like the elaborate sheath on the bill of puffins is shed every year.

The Rhinoceros Auklet (also known as the Rhino Auklet, Horn-billed Puffin, or Unicorn Puffin), is a medium sized auk with a large, strong, orange/brown bill (with the ‘horn’ protruding from it). The plumage is dark on top, paler below, and the breeding adults, both male and females possess white plumes above the eyes and behind the bill. Males are slightly larger than females (about 10% in mass).

The Rhinoceros Auklet is a North Pacific auk that breeds from California (the Channel Islands) to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska in North America; and Hokkaidō and Honshū, Japan, as well as North Korea and Sakhalin Island in Asia. It winters both in offshore and inshore waters, exhibiting some migration.

The Rhinoceros Auklet nests in burrows dug into the soil or in natural caves and cavities between 1 to 5 m deep. It prefers nesting sites on slight inclines to aid take-off (as it is a poor flier). A single egg is incubated by both parents for 45 days, the semiprecocial chick is then fed each night with a bill full of fish (in the manner of puffins) for 50 days. The nocturnal behaviour is believed to be a response to predation and kleptoparasitism by gulls.

At sea Rhinoceros Auklets feed on fish, with some krill and squid taken also. They feed inshore during the breeding season in the midwater. To catch their prey, they dive to as deep as 57 meters (187 ft) for as long as 148 seconds.

Evolution and prehistoric species

The genus Cerorhinca evolved in the North Pacific, apparently in the mid-late Miocene. Although today only one species remains, it used to be much more diverse, both in number of species and in distribution; fossils have been found as far south as Baja California. Known prehistoric species are:

* Dubious Auklet, Cerorhinca dubia (Late Miocene of San Barbara County, USA)
* Cerorhinca minor (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Cedros Island, Mexico)
* Cerorhinca reai (San Diego Late Pliocene, SW USA)

(Above information from Wikipedia)…

If you want to see the Rhinoceros Auklet on webcam, you can see it at the California State Parks website. Click here, then scroll down — on the left side click on “HD Sealcam”. This is a camera set up to record the nighttime species. The Auklet takes care of its young and eggs at night. They burrow at night. =)

Puffling

Originally uploaded by pmchugh

The little puffin is called a puffling. Baby puffins. =)

Aren’t they sweet? I mean aside from the hands that look like they are crushing it, (they are not! the birds are not harmed!)

Pufflings take about 39-43 days to hatch. Once born it takes about a week before it can maintain its own body temperature. During this week it depends on its parents to keep it nice and warm. Typically, one parent stays near and holds it under its wing close to them to stay toasty warm and the other goes out to find some food. After about 10-12 days the little pufflings start to get their wing feathers.

When it is time to eat the little puffling knows because the parent not keeping it warm will call out to it and leave it a few fish on the floor to eat deep within the burrow to protect it from light.

Pufflings do not like light much until they are full fledged (able to take care of themselves). I am not sure why but this light sensitivity ensures that the pufflings stay deep in their burrow safe from other seabirds and predators. Actually, if a burrow is not deep enough and a direct source of light is around the egg or chick while it is being incubated their chances of survival are much lower.

Pufflings can count on their parents to feed them until about 34-60 days. Towards the end of this period, their parents are feeding them about ten times a day! Hungry little birds, aren’t they? However, if there is not a lot of food the pufflings will need their parents to feed them longer.

Once it is completely fledge, the little puffling will head out to sea late at night when predators are least likely to be around. This usually goes fairly well. They simply jump into the water and off they go but sometimes the lights and commotion of the people in towns nearby confuses the poor little pufflings and then they wander towards land instead of sea. Luckily, most of these little confused wanderers are rescued by local people and returned to the sea. Other pufflings never make it because predatory birds such as the black-backed gulls and rats and arctic foxes and bald eagles find them before they make it out to sea. How sad for these little guys!

I posted a video from National Geographic which shows the Puffin’s journey out to sea
here. You can also read all about how the little local boys and girls save the pufflings who wander into town in this book:

Night of the Pufflings by Bruce McMillan

Sources:
Angel, Heather. Puffins. New York: Evans Mitchell Books, 2007.
Taylor, Kenny. Puffins. New York: Voyageur P, Incorporated, 1999.