From Opus

Photo by Jenygard

Fratercula arctica

[edit] Identification

28-34 cm

• Black crown and upperparts
• Greyish-white cheeks
• Black throat-band
• White underparts
• Orange legs
• Red orbital ring
• Bill: in breeding season is large and triangular, brightly coloured red, yellow and blue. It is smaller in winter with less red and more yellow

Puffling
Photo by drexyl
Farne Islands, Northumberland, July 2011

[edit] Confusion Species

Smaller than Guillemot (which has a longer thinner bill) and Razorbill. Larger than Little Auk. All these have wing bars, lacking in the Puffin.

[edit] Distribution

Breeds in colonies on the coasts of northern Europe, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and eastern North America, from well within the Arctic Circle to northern France and Maine.

Pelagic in the winter months, usually further out to sea than other auks.

[edit] Taxonomy

• F. a. naumanni:

• Northern Canada and Greenland to Spitsbergen and northern Novaya Zemlya

• F. a. arctica:

• Baffin Island to Maine, Scandinavia and southern Novaya Zemlya

• F. a. grabae:

• Faeroe Islands, southern Scandinavia and British Isles to north-western France

[edit] Habitat

Photo by oncebittern
Farne Islands, June 2009

Pelagic; breeds on coastal cliffs or offshore islands.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Flight

They fly with rapidly whirring wings.

[edit] Breeding

The breeding season is from May to June with 1 egg; 1 brood. The grooves on the bill increase with age. They use abandoned rabbit or shearwater burrows (sometimes small caves in a cliff face) on steep grassy slopes at the top of a cliff.

The lifespan of a Puffin is 10-20 years.

[edit] Diet

It is mainly Sandeels that are fed to the chick, these increase in size as the youngster grows. They have a semi-rigid rasping tongue which pushes already caught sandeels up onto spikes on the hard palate - this frees up the mandibles (especially the lower) to snap at the next victim!

[edit] Vocalisation

Call: a throaty growl

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
2. Wikipedia
3. Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
4. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
5. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
6. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• Arthur Grosset's Birds