Puffins

Puffins are distinctive with black plumage on their backs and white underparts, black heads with large pale cheeks and bright orange legs. During breeding season, their large, flattened bills turn brightly coloured.​ The puffin is part of the Auk family of medium-sized seabirds that have long bodies with short legs that give them a distinctive waddle on land.

The adults eat mostly small fish, such as sand eels and herring. They’re not picky though, in the winter if times get tough they’ll eat crustaceans too. As for the babies their parents feed them several times a day, either by carrying the fish straight down to them using their bills or dropping them onto the burrow floor.

Even though the fish they eat are quite small they come in big quantities. Puffins carry loads of fish in their beaks at a time! The normal catch is around 10 fish per trip but the puffin world record is a colossal 83 fish at once! Now that’s one full family. They’re made for it though, their peaks are specialised to hold all of those slippery fish. Their raspy tongues holds fish against spines on the palate, while it opens its beak to catch more fish!

The short answer is yes. And they’re quite fast too! Amazingly our feathered friends can reach speeds of up to 55mph (88 km/hr) which is pretty fast for such a small bird. Their wings beat rapidly, reaching up to 400 beats a minute, in fact from afar the flying puffin doesn’t look dissimilar to that of a black and white football!

As a general rule, the larger the bird the longer it lives, so the puffins rack up a respectable age of 20 years, usually more – in fact the oldest Puffin recorded lived to be 38! In order to track the ages of the Puffins, small tags are attached to the birds legs. However this doesn’t always mean they’re reliable. Many get worn by the rocks and corroded by the sea, making them near impossible to read. So until tag-making science catches up that’s the best guess we’ve got!

You’d be surprised how many people ask if puffins and penguins are related. Both share similar black and white feather colouration; names begin with ‘P’ and they both love a fish breakfast – surely they’re related?

No they’re actually not! Penguins belong to the family spheniscidae, an order of flightless birds living in the southern hemisphere whereas Puffins are part of the Alcidae family of Auks, recognised for their ability to “fly” under water as well as in the air. Although they are excellent swimmers and divers, their walking appears clumsy.

Penguins bones are pretty much solid. This is necessary as they need to be less buoyant while swimming so they can dive down and grab all those tasty fish. Puffins on the other hand, like most birds have hollow bones giving them the ability to fly. Penguins also live exclusively in the Southern hemisphere – all 18 species; whereas all 4 species of puffins all live up north. There is one very real similarity they both share though, they’re both in trouble because of us! Overfishing, pollution, climate change and introduced predators means these fantastic birds are on the decline.

Going back to its origin, Puffin is derived for the word ‘puff’ meaning swollen. When looking at a Puffin chick, it’s hardly a surprise, as their fully dense feathers really do make the little chick round – advantageous for retaining body heat while parents are off fishing for them. Their scientific name is Fratercula arctica, which dates way back to the 1800s and means “little brother of the north” which alludes to “little friar”. This is because the black and white markings on its feathers look like a friar’s robe. Alternatively puffins sometimes hold their feet together when taking off, much like hands clasped together in prayer.

The puffin also has several nicknames. “Clown of the sea” and “sea parrot” thanks to it’s brightly coloured face and feet!

There are a many differnt terms for a group of Puffins. They can be called a Circus, a Puffinry, a Burrow, a Gathering, an Improbability, a Raft, a Loomery