Transcript Creature Feature - Coastal Carolina University

Creature Feature
Atlantic Puffin
Background
 Pelagic
bird
 About 1 ft tall
 Characteristic bright orange bill plates
grow before the breeding season and are
shed after breeding
 Feeding areas are often located 60 miles
offshore from the nest
 Dive for fish up to 200 feet
Reproduction
 About
95% of the Atlantic puffins in North
America breed around Newfoundland's
coastlines
 Colonial nesters, using burrows on grassy
cliffs
 Male
puffins perform most of the work of
clearing out the nest area
 The only time spent on land is to nest
 Mates are found prior to arriving at the
colonies, and mating takes place at sea
 Mates are monogamous
 Produce 1 egg per year
Conservation

Population was greatly reduced
during the 19th Century due to
hunting
 Listed as a species of least
concern by the IUCN

Susceptible to human
impacts (i.e. oil spills)
 Increased predation by
gulls and skuas

Other problems for puffins:
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
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Introduction of rats, cats, dogs and foxes onto islands
used for nesting
Contamination by toxic residues
Drowning in fishing nets
Declining food supplies
Climate change