A baby Puffin about to be released into the outer Firth of Forth between the Isle of May and Anstruther. The bird was attempting to reach the water in the dark last night and got disorientated. The SNH folk on the island rescued it from being predated by the resident gulls and released it from the May Princess.
Would you have imagined there was violence amongst puffins? I wouldn’t! But that is exactly what was happening in a puffin colony in Scotland. A puffin now dubbed, ‘Asbo’ was caught on camera attacking a puffling for no apparent reason. He would go in and peck and kick at the little baby puffin.
It lends to the argument that social systems within the animal kingdom are much more complex than we can really fathom. Perhaps that baby was born of another male puffin, an old flame? Who knows what the real reason is for this puffin bully but I am glad to read that the puffling is ok and will most likely survive.
Little pufflings often get lost when they leave their burrow, city lights confuse them and they don’t always make it out to sea. They wander into towns and could potentially die. So this town has learned how to help these baby puffins make it out to sea… watch for yourself…
Puffins at the RSPB Sanctuary in the Hebridies… I heard one little girl say to her friend: “Look! Pufflings!” to which her friend replied: “It’s puff-INS…. DUH!”
Talking to the Zookeepers pays off!! Next time you visit a zoo—say hello and don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Tufted puffin couple at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, WA
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium currently has 20 tufted puffins in its exhibit, 9 males and 11 females. The tufted puffins range in age from 1 to 31. They currently have the oldest living puffin in captivity at 31 years of age!! He is only 3 years younger than me! =) Not only is he the oldest living puffin in captivity but tufted puffins are thought to only be capable of producing and raising chicks until their mid-twenties but this 31-year-old tufted puffin is a proud papa this year! The Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium also has the oldest living female in captivity at 27 years old. And if all this isn’t enough to make you get excited they also have 3 tufted puffin pairs that they believe are raising chicks this year. I wrote ‘they believe’ because the zookeepers try to let the tufted puffins raise the chicks as naturally as possible so the zookeepers do not check on their progress. They wait and are surprised by the little ones in the exhibit. How fun is that?!?
This is one of the tufted puffin mothers who had a chick this year
The youngest tufted puffin chick at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium as of August 2009!
The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is currently in the middle of some intensive training with their puffins as well. In the past year they have been training them to eat from the zookeepers’ hands so that they can better deliver any vitamins and medications the puffins may need. The training has been extremely successful so far. Part of this training for the last 6 months included working on scale training the puffins (training the puffins to step on a scale in order to get more frequent weights) instead of having to catch the puffins and hold them to get their weight. Catching them is extremely stressful for the puffins and so the the new weighing techniques has been very effective for both the zookeepers and the puffins. The Pt. Defiance Zoo now has weights on all birds except for about 4.
It is amazing what some hard work can produce! These quirky adorable little birds are definitely smarter than the zookeepers realized. I, for one, am looking forward to discovering more about the little pufflings and the progress of the training at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium!
For more information on the puffin exhibit (within the Rocky Shores exhibit) at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium—you can visit them online at their official website or in person at:
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium
5400 N Pearl St # D Ruston, WA 98407-3296
(253) 591-5337
What are the hours and days of operation to see the puffins at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium? The zoo is open from 9:30-6:00 until September 7. After that the zoo is open from 9:30-5:00. The birds can be viewed any time during those hours, their exhibit is never closed.
When are the best times to go to see the puffins at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium if you have questions?
They feed their puffins 3 times a day during breeding season, twice a day during non-breeding season. As of right now, they are fed at approximately 8:00, 12:00-1:00, and 3:00-3:30. They will discontinue the last feeding during non-breeding season. This isn’t really definitive, but there is not a set schedule to when they feed their animals but this is a good guess. I will update you when I find out more…
It is August on the coast of Iceland, and the air is filled with the deep garbled growls of hundreds of puffins. The social birds have come to shore for the short breeding season, and the rocky banks are dotted with their squat, football-shaped bodies. From the ocean bursts a shiny five-year-old male carrying a dozen small herring in his beak. Flapping his wings mightily, he rises from the waves to the rocky cliffs where a hungry chick waits silently in a burrow hidden in the rocks. The puffin circles the sky above the burrow several times, looking out for herring gulls, which sometimes wait ashore to steal a puffin’s catch. But the coast is clear and the puffin swoops down, entering the dark burrow with a flurry. Instantly the chick springs to life, demanding its meal with tiny squeals. Downy gray and plump, with a sliver of a beak, the chick hardly resembles its striking black and white father. Large and colorful beaks, which will fall off after the season is over, have given these arctic birds their nicknames—the sea parrot.
It was once questioned whether the pelagic puffin was a cross between a bird and a fish. Awkward and clumsy-looking on land, it certainly appears more adept in the sea, where its short wings effectively propel it through the water after small herring and sand eels. Its webbed feet function as a rudder, allowing the bird to maneuver sharp turns. Puffins can fly, and will actually beat their wings 100-400 beats per minute to become airborne. But because of the effort required to take flight, puffins will nest on cliffs where they more easily swoop down into the ocean. Puffins fly low to the water, and can reach speeds up to 55 miles per hour.
A puffin’s diet comes from the icy depths of the ocean, and an average dive can last twenty or thirty seconds, or more. With their specialized beaks, puffins are able to hold several fish at a time. Their raspy tongues hold fish against spines on their palate while they open their beak for more. An average catch would be 10-12 fish, but one puffin reportedly brought 62 fish in its beak at one time! Waterproof feathers provide protection from the chill of even the coldest waters in the arctic region. Even its coloration lends to its survival in the sea. The puffin’s dark coloring on its back make it difficult for predators to distinguish it from the dark waves as it floats on the ocean, while from below its white underside masks it from ocean enemies. This deceptive coloring is called counter shading.
Around the world it is estimated that 12-15 million puffins exist as three species: The horned puffin, named for its horny projections above its eyes; the tufted puffin, which has conspicuous straw-colored feathers extending from its crown during mating season; and the Atlantic puffin, the only puffin to live on the Atlantic Ocean, which has a steel-blue triangle at the base of its beak. In the 1800s over-hunting obliterated a native population in Maine, which has since been restored. They are not presently threatened. Puffin colonies are found breeding off the coasts of Alaska, Canada, North America, and North Asia; although Iceland is the breeding quarters of the largest population of puffins. Coastlines are filled with thousands of breeding pairs during the summer months. Puffins are monogamous, and while companions may part for the winter, which they spend out on the open sea, they usually return to the same partner, and even the same nest.
The rigorous mating ritual begins while the pair is still at sea. Breeding pairs engage in billing each other, skypointing (flying straight up), and strutting. By the time birds reach the shore, partnerships are well-established. The male digs the burrow using his beak to cut into the soil and his feet to shovel the rocks and other loose material away. Ideally, the burrow will be 2-3 feet long and protected from predators by rocks. Here the female lays one egg per year. Together, the pair incubates the egg, each taking a turn holding it under one wing and pressing it against its body. Cooperating in this way, both birds are able to leave the nest to feed.
When the egg hatches 40-53 days later, the parents continue to share responsibility for the chick. Feeding occurs four to five times a day, and after the first day of life the chick can be left alone in the burrow to wait for its next meal. The chick remains in the burrow about 40-55 days, whereupon it waits until evening before independently approaching the opening of the burrow for the first time. The fledgling sets out to sea on its own, where it will live for the next two years. Puffins reach sexual maturity at 3 years old, but will not generally return to their nesting grounds to mate until 4-5 years old. Puffins live long lives of 20 years or more.
Historically humans have used the puffin for meat and clothing (its skin is waterproof and warm when worn with the feathers turned inside), but hunting is generally discouraged today. In some countries it is forbidden by law. Meanwhile, man has come to value puffins as indicators of ocean health. By observing the condition of the puffin population, scientists determine whether over-fishing or harmful pollution is taking place. Oil spills threaten puffins by de-waterproofing their feathers, making them vulnerable to cold temperatures. Another negative impact on puffin colonies has been the unintentional introduction of rats and foxes to summer nesting areas.
Every fall the young puffins fly from there holes at night, towards the lights, in to the town. They land there helpless and hungry trying to make there way to the sea. Kids search for them with flashlights and boxes to put them in and that same night or the morning after they trow the young puffins out to sea.
I stumbled across this photo on google and thought it was so adorable I had to share. It is not just the photo but the story which you can read all about here (and see more photos!!!!)
Four little pufflings were found waiting outside a fish and chips restaurant in Edinburgh after losing their way from the shore. This is a common thing in towns with puffin colonies. The little baby puffins have a difficult time navigating their way around.
Puffins travel in large packs but they are only around for about five months a year—going out to sea the rest of the time. So, catch them while you can generally March to July—these months may vary depending on where you are in the world. They only come in to mate, nest, incubate their egg (yes, generally they only have one) in the burrow and then they are off!
Both sexes incubate for 39-43 days with shifts of about 32 hours each, and the puffling is hatched with a covering of down. At about two months old the young puffin goes off by itself. Back to the sea for the puffin family—although not necessarily together.
INTERESTING FACT
It was onced believed that a Puffin was a fish as well as a bird. People thought it was born from rotting piece of wood floating in the sea, instead of hatching out from an egg as we know it does today.
