YAY! A puffinpalooza reader shared with me a video clip of a puffin in the movie Happy Feet 2 today, let me share it with all of you…

Thanks for sharing this! How cute…

A couple puffin videos for you to enjoy…

Puffin Stuff (Cartoon)

Puffin (Video of a drawing)

A wonderful reader (and teacher!) shared this video with me and I wanted to share it with all of you…

My dearest friends went to the Point Defiance Zoo again today and spent a lot of time with the puffins! They had so much fun. Apparently, the little puffins were very friendly today. One came right up to the barrier, so close they could have picked it up! They did not though because that would set a bad example and could harm the little bird. The puffins at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Washington are Tufted Puffins. And they are adorable! The gave these pictures and videos to me so I can share with all of you!

You can see more puffin videos on our youtube channel  — The Puffinpalooza official youtube channel!

Look at me! I'm cute! (Tufted Puffin at the Point Defiance Zoo in July 2010)

(more…)

I came across this short little video of two puffins, just hanging around and thought it was worth sharing. It was taken and shared by a man named Andrew on Flickr. He gave me permission to post his pictures on the site so I will! =)

You can watch the video here. I would post it but I cannot. It will open in a new window so you won’t technically leave this site.

Here are the photographs he took:

Photo Source: Andrew Green (http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze/)

Photo Source: Andrew Green (http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze/)

Photo Source: Andrew Green (http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze/)

Enjoy the rest… (more…)

You really need to watch this video! The puffin is “gliding” through the air… very cute!

Puffins at coastal nesting habitatGreen Umbrella

They have a lot of puffin videos to enjoy there–check them out while you are there.

This is an excellent short video about puffins. It has excellent footage of puffins–about 40 of them! They show the cute head nodding and grunting, billing—it is really worth the watch. It is under ten minutes so it won’t take long—go ahead watch!

Puffin Behavior Video

I found yet another free Puffin Game online, Prodly the Puffin. It is not a graphics based game. It is a text adventure game, a ‘tale of one bravely puffin in search for his pitchfork’. You simply type in what you want to do next and then read what happens… etc. etc. Think about the first computer games—it is like them. It is still fun and cute. Try it here.
PARENTS this game does have weapons — you cannot see them as it is not a graphic-based game but it talks about them.

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. =)