pufflings birds - mythical

Tracking puffins helps scientists learn about unusual bird

21.05.12

What we know about puffins

Puffins return each year to the same coastal nesting sites where they hatched. They mate for life and can live for more than 20 years.

It takes an enormous amount of energy to be a puffin. Their short wings beat about 400 times a minute and help propel puffins deep into the ocean to catch the small fish they love to eat. Sticky spines in their mouths allow puffins to carry 10 or more fish at one time — a real timesaver!

Female puffins have one chick a year, which both parents help raise. At about 6 weeks old, the chicks — pufflings — head out to sea at night to avoid predators, leaving their parents behind. (What could you do when you were 6 weeks old?) These pufflings won’t return home for two years.

Are all puffins the same? No. In the United States, tufted and horned puffins are seen in the northern Pacific Ocean. Atlantic puffins are found along Maine’s coast.

Atlantic puffins, at about 10 to 12 inches tall, are the smallest and have blue patches on their bills. Tufted puffins are the largest at 16 inches tall and have blond feathers on their heads during breeding season. Horned puffins don’t have horns but a black line extending upward from each eye — making them look as if they’ve been playing with Mom’s makeup.

Source: Washington Post