Puffin 8" L

Fun Facts for Kids

• Due to the striking appearance, large colorful bill, waddling gait, and their behavior Atlantic puffins have been given a number of endearing names including "clowns of the sea" and "sea parrots", and juvenile puffins may be called "pufflings".
• The Atlantic puffin is the official bird symbol for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
• The characteristic bright orange bill plates and other facial characteristics of Atlantic puffins develop in the spring. At the close of the breeding season, these special coatings and appendages are shed in a partial molt. This makes the beak appear less broad, the tip less bright, and the base darker grey. The eye ornaments are also shed and the eyes appear round. At the same time, the feathers of the head and neck are replaced and the face becomes darker. This winter plumage of Atlantic puffins is seldom seen by humans because when they have left their chicks, the birds head out to sea and do not return to land until the next breeding season.
• Atlantic puffins have a direct flight, typically 10 m (33 ft) above the sea surface and they can travel at 80 km (50 mi) per hour. They mostly move by paddling along efficiently with their webbed feet and seldom take to the air.
• Atlantic puffins are typically silent at sea, and only make soft purring sounds in flight. At the breeding colony, they are quiet above ground, but in their burrow make a growling sound that resembles a chainsaw being revved up.
• The upper surface of the Atlantic puffin is black and underside white. This provides camouflage, with aerial predators unable to observe the bird against the dark, watery background, and underwater attackers failing to notice it as it blends in with the bright sky above the waves.
• If one Atlantic puffin is startled and takes off unexpectedly, panic usually spreads through the colony and all the birds launch themselves into the air and wheel around in a great circle.
• A tradition exists on the Icelandic island of Heimaey for the children to rescue young puffins. The fledglings emerge from the nest and try to make their way to the sea, but sometimes get confused, perhaps by the street lighting, ending up by landing in the village. The children collect them and liberate them to the safety of the sea.
• The Atlantic Puffin is a vulnerably endangered species.

Atlantic puffins are birds of the colder waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. They breed on the coasts of northwest Europe, the Arctic fringes, and eastern North America. While at sea, puffins range widely across the North Atlantic Ocean, including the North Sea, and may enter the Arctic Circle. In the summer, their southern limit stretches from northern France to Maine and in the winter, the birds may range as far south as the Mediterranean Sea and North Carolina. Atlantic puffins spend autumn and winter out in the open ocean and breed on grassy coastal slopes and rocky cliffs.

Product Dimension: 7.48(L) X 3.15(W) X 8.27(H)

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