What are some cool facts about puffins?
Top ten puffin facts
- Nicknamed “sea parrots” – and sometimes “clowns of the sea“!
- Puffins spend most of their lives out at sea, resting on the waves when not swimming.
- A puffin’s beak (or bill) changes colour during the year.
- Puffins are carnivores and live off small fish such as herring, hake and sand eels.
Where do puffin birds live?
In North America, they nest from Labrador/Newfoundland to the Northeastern United States. In Europe, they nest south to the Brittany Coast of France, northwards to Iceland, Greenland, and Northern Russia. Most of the world’s puffins are found in Iceland, where sixty percent of the population breeds.
Do puffins have teeth?
In contrast to their dinosaur ancestors, they lack true teeth and have replaced them with specialized beaks and bills. The beak of the puffin can carry numerous fish due to the structure of its jaw and serrations on the inside of its mouth.
What does a puffin bird eat?
Food. Atlantic Puffins eat small fish around 2 to 6 inches long, mainly sandlance (sandeel), sprat, capelin, herring, hake, and cod. During the breeding season, they forage in shallow waters close to the breeding colony, generally not straying more than about 10 miles from shore.
Why are puffins so special?
Puffins are one of the few birds that have the ability to hold several small fish in their bills at a time. Their raspy tongues and spiny palates allow them to firm grasp 10 to 12 fish during one foraging trip.
Are puffins friendly?
“Overall they have quite a placid temperament—their mating rituals aren’t as aggressive as other seabirds and they seem more curious about humans than anything else.”
Do puffins sleep?
When on long foraging trips, Atlantic puffins rest (and even sleep) on the sea surface rather than on the wing. Unlike most seabirds, their wings are relatively small, and they are unable to glide.
Are puffins smart?
The discovery, along with a similar observation in Wales in 2014, is the first evidence of tool use in seabirds. The findings suggest that seabirds like puffins may be more intelligent or possess greater problem-solving skills than once thought.
How long can puffins fly?
A puffin may fly as far as 30 miles out to sea to hunt fish for its chick. To catch the fish, the puffin uses its wings to “fly” underwater, steering with its feet. A puffin can carry lots of fish in its bill at a time—usually around 10 or so, but the record is more than 60!