Puffins are also known as clowns of the ocean or sea parrots and they are indeed fascinating animals. Let’s find out what else is cool about them.
- Stuffed mouth
You might think that the puffin is greedy for stuffing his mouth full of fish in one go, but he has a special ability that allows him to do that. He can easily stuff 10 fishes into his mouth. The end section of a puffin’s tongue is rough and coarse, which helps him to catch slippery fish. He then presses the fish against the spines in his upper palate. This helps him to catch more fish and take them to the nest to feed his hungry pufflings.
2. Four cousins
There are four species of puffin: the Atlantic puffin, horned puffin, tufted puffin and rhinoceros auklet. The most common of these puffins is the Atlantic puffin, also known as a common puffin.
3. Old farts
A puffin can live up to 20 years old if he manages to evade his predators, which are mainly the great black-backed gull. Average garden birds live between two and five years.
4. Fly away
Legend has it that a puffin only flies when he can see the ocean. He can fly up to 88km/h, but he might need some landing skills. Apparently, these birds would tumble on the grass when they try to land or will crash into the sea.
5. Colourful beaks
Puffins are recognisable by their multicoloured beaks and matching orange feet. But they only sport these ‘outfits’ during spring, just before the mating season. When winter approaches, the coloured beaks are shed, and they have smaller and duller beaks.
6. Small bird
Looking at images of puffins, you might think that they are bigger birds, but they are on average only 20cm tall. The Atlantic puffin weighs about 380g, the horned puffin and rhinoceros auklet weigh 620g, and the tufted puffin weighs 780g.
7. Setting up a nest
Puffins don’t build their nests like other birds. They dig burrows in the sand, almost 1m deep. Sometimes they will find protected spots in cliffs to hatch one egg.
