Atlantic Puffin
Interesting facts
Atlantic puffins are birds that live near the sea for most of their lives. They fly like like most birds, but they also "fly" in the water, using their wings as paddles. The name for in the water and out of the water is aquatic. As they swim, they use their webbed feet to steer, much as a boat uses a paddles.
Made for their home in the water, puffins are also very quick in the air. They can flap their wings up to 400 times a minute, racing in the air at 88 kilometers an hours fast as a car on the highway. How many times can you flap your arms in one minute? Puffins eat small fish like sand eels and herrings which they hunt underwater.They generally stay underwater for 30 seconds or less, but they can stay down for up to a minute and dive 61 meters deep.
Made for their home in the water, puffins are also very quick in the air. They can flap their wings up to 400 times a minute, racing in the air at 88 kilometers an hours fast as a car on the highway. How many times can you flap your arms in one minute? Puffins eat small fish like sand eels and herrings which they hunt underwater.They generally stay underwater for 30 seconds or less, but they can stay down for up to a minute and dive 61 meters deep.
Colonies, nesting sites and burrows...
In the spring and summer, thousands of puffins gather in colonies on the coasts and islands of the North Atlantic Ocean. Pairs of puffins become mates for their whole life, finding each other at their breeding colony that happens every year. The pair use the same burrow that they used the year before.
Puffin nesting sites are often on steep, rocky cliffs, where the birds and their eggs are safer from their predators. The Puffins nest , in their burrows are in the ground or in a sheltered area somewhere around rocks. To dig a burrow, male and female puffins use their well-talented beaks to cut into the dirt and then, like dogs, use their feet to move the dirt out behind them. A burrow is about 91 centimeters long.
Puffin nesting sites are often on steep, rocky cliffs, where the birds and their eggs are safer from their predators. The Puffins nest , in their burrows are in the ground or in a sheltered area somewhere around rocks. To dig a burrow, male and female puffins use their well-talented beaks to cut into the dirt and then, like dogs, use their feet to move the dirt out behind them. A burrow is about 91 centimeters long.
BABY PUFFINS...
The birds build their nest, located at the end of the burrow, with grass, seaweed, and feathers. Both parents take care of the egg the female lays. It takes about 42 days for the eggs to hatch. Both Mom and Dad puffins both take care of the baby, feeding it with small fish that they carry back to their nest from the sea.
When puffins are just feeding themselves, they swallow the fish they catched while still being underwater. When they are feeding their young, they generally carry several small fish at a time back to the nest for their child.
When puffins are just feeding themselves, they swallow the fish they catched while still being underwater. When they are feeding their young, they generally carry several small fish at a time back to the nest for their child.