Puffin

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The Atlantic Puffin looks brilliant and courtly during breeding season; however, during non-breeding seasons their appearance changes to the point that people once thought it was two species. They are capable of catching and holding up to 61 fish in its bill. They and can easily drown in fishing nets set for salmon. Besides man, the gulls are their worst enemy because one gull can eat up to 5 puffin per day. There are an estimated 12 to 15 million Atlantic puffin in the world.

Puffins are poor fliers and must flap their wings at an amazing 300 to 400 beats per minute to maintain flight. Their landings are as awkward as their take-offs and they often crash onto the sea or tumble onto the grass, they make knock over other puffins that get in their way. Puffins stand upright on land and walk or hop about with apparent great care over the uneven terrain of the colony.

Because of their shape, puffins are superbly adapted to swimming underwater. Puffin are compactly built and are strong birds with a relatively long body. They have short wings and powerful wing muscles. At one end the bill and head cut through the water, which passes smoothly over the streamlined body, and at the other end, legs and feet act as rudders. Except for breeding times, they spend the rest of their life on the sea. Puffin are waterproofed when they preen because of an oil gland near their tail.