Atlantic Puffin

From Freepedia

Atlantic Puffin

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Alcidae
Genus:	Fratercula
Species:	F. arctica

Binomial name

Fratercula arctica
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) is an auk with a brightly colored beak. It is a pelagic seabird that feeds primarily by diving for fish. Atlantic Puffins breed in large colonies, nesting in crevices or burrows. Also known as the Common Puffin, it is the only puffin species which is found in the Atlantic Ocean.

This puffin is 28-34 cm in length, with a 50-60 cm wingspan. it is mainly black above and white below, with a pale grey face and orange legs. The bright orange bill plates grow before the breeding season and are shed later. The bills are used in courtship rituals, such as the pair tapping bills together.

This species breeds on the coasts of northern Europe, Iceland and eastern North America, in burrows on grassy cliffs but also amongst rocks and scree, and winters far out to sea. It makes a noisy grunt at the breeding burrows. Feeding areas are usually located fairly far offshore from the nest. There is usually one chick and both parents feed the young.

Puffins will collect several small fish when hunting, and line them up in their bills facing alternately to each side. They use their tongues to hold the fish against spines in their palate, leaving their beaks free to open and catch more fish. They also eat crustaceans and mollusks.

The population of these birds were greatly reduced in the 1800s when they were hunted for meat and eggs. More recently, populations have declined due to predation by large gulls and the inadvertent introduction of rats onto some islands used for nesting. An Atlantic Puffin may live for around 25 years.

The Atlantic Puffin is the official bird of Newfoundland and Labrador.