Meet the quirky - 'sea parrots'

"I'm very happy being me, although sometimes I'd love to be a bird so that I could fly."

This is what Joy Fielding says and I actually feel the same! 

Whenever I watch those colourful and lovely creatures- 'birds' flying high in the sky, diving or playing with their wings I always wish to be a part of their journey, once! 

Birds are among the most beautiful and interesting creatures found everywhere around the world. I always try to explore new species of them and to know a little more about their lives.

As in one of my recent stories, I had discussed a dazzling creature- Blue Jay and described its beauty and brain. You can read the story here;

During the journey of exploring the world, I came to know another amazing bird species called - Puffins. There are three different species - Tuffed puffins, Horned puffins and Atlantic puffins. In this story, we are going to talk about the Atlantic Puffins, found in North Atlantic Ocean.

Puffins don't just have a unique look but there are a few more interesting facts about them! 

Let's check them out one by one here:

Puffins generally have black or black and white short wings, short tails and a large beak which changes shade during the breeding season and appears more bright! It's seen that as the breeding season ends the beak loses its colour and look a little dull, again. Sounds interesting, right? However, both males and females look alike but males are slightly larger than females.

Let's talk over something about their name:

First of all, Puffins got their name from the word 'puff' which means swollen and it's just because of their fatty and puffed appearance, they are called so.

Atlantic puffins are also called common puffins. Other nicknames for the bird are 'clown of the sea' and 'sea parrot'.

Several islands are called after the name of the bird in different regions of the North Atlantic Ocean. They are also the official bird symbols of Newfoundland and Labrador, the two provinces in Canada! Many islands have been known to introduce their stamps and coins engraved with puffin images.

What makes them popular?

Puffins are famous for their unique ability to grasp 10 to 12 small fishes at once in their beaks! As we know other bird species can hold either a single or maximum of 2 to 3 fishes in their beaks, puffins are known to have extra-talented skills in catching their prey!

Researchers explain that puffins have been found to show some animal intelligence too. They were found using some wood sticks as a means to rub their skins.

They are magnificent swimmers!

However, Puffins spend most of their time lying and resting on the sea waves (they only move to the land to breed) and swim a little. With the help of their wings they 'fly' underwater and use their feet to manage the directions. In the search for their food, they can dive up to 60 meters deep underwater!

 Their small wings help them incredibly to dive and swim in water but in the case of flying, they have to flap them regularly to stay in the flight. It sometimes reaches up to 400 wing beats or more per minute!

Puffins are monogamous!

The birds are monogamous which means they rarely change their mates and be in long term relationships, generally. After coming on the land, they show their affection towards their partners by rubbing their beaks in the sand and this is known as the 'billing ceremony'. It's found that puffins often breed in rabbit burrows. Females lay a single egg at a time ( the eggs are creamy white in colour) and both partners brood the egg together!

Final Thoughts

Puffins look cute and come under the list of unique bird species found all around the world. But it's found that their population have been declined since 19th and 20th century in Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The residents of the islands hunt these birds for meat, eggs and feathers.

The life of these beautiful creatures is in danger! However, several steps have been taken by the different organisations for the protection of the species. There is a French biodiversity charity, the LPO which uses a pair of Atlantic puffins as its symbol aiming towards the protection of puffins. That's appreciable!

However, I think this puffy bird species with black and white skin and a shiny beak with a pinch of orange, shows another example of a dazzling creature with beauty and brain!

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