July 12, 2015 - Atlantic Puffins - Part 2

Here are more photos of Atlantic Puffins taken when I visited Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine. These birds are only 12½ inches tall, with a wing span of 21 inches. They weigh less than a pound. There are three species of puffins in the world but the Atlantic Puffin is the only one found off the eastern coast of North America.

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For most of the year, puffins spend their time on the open ocean. Their location in the winter hasn’t been well studied but we presume they stay in the northern Atlantic Ocean. From May to August they come to rocky islands along the Atlantic coast to raise their young. The coast of Maine is at the southern edge of their breeding range. A pair of puffins will mate for life and will return to the same island year after year to nest. Males and females look alike.

PuffinAtlanticpairMachiasSealIsland20150616

This puffin is just resting on a rock; it is not sitting on a nest. In fact, you are unlikely to see an actual puffin nest because it will be underground. The puffin pair finds an appropriate spot among the rocks and they excavate a 3-foot to 6-foot burrow. One egg is laid and both adults incubate the egg.

One of my birding friends reminded me that you can see an Atlantic Puffin in its nest by connecting to the Audubon Puffin Cam. Here’s a link to it. http://explore.org/live-cams/player/puffin-burrow-cam

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Here is a close-up showing the colorful bill of a Puffin in breeding plumage.

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This puffin is calling; you can see its tongue, which has a unique role when the puffin is fishing. The puffin catches small fish to feed its juvenile. It comes back to the nest carrying as many as six of these fish in its bill. After catching a fish, it uses the tongue to hold the fish against the roof of its mouth. Both the tongue and the roof of the mouth have small spikes on them to make it easier to hold the fish in place. This leaves the bill free to use for catching more fish.

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A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that birds often have a second eyelid called a nictating membrane. It can be closed to protect the eye but is clear enough so the bird can see through it. The photo on the right gives you a good look at the nictating membrane of a puffin.

PuffinAtlanticnictatingMachiasSealIsland20150616composite

Puffins use their wings to fly through the air, of course, but they are also used to propel the bird through the water. Their wings always seem too short for flying, but if they were longer, using them in the water would be a problem. Therefore, the length of their wings is a compromise that works both in the air and in the water.

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