Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica By: Will Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Alcidae Genus: Fratercula Species: arctica

Natural History

The Atlantic puffin has been known by many names such as sea parrots, common puffin, clowns of the sea, or its scientific name, Fratercula arctica. Clowns of the sea truly fits them because they look so comical flying and waddling around in such a funny way.

Many years ago, they were killed for their meat and feathers. The feathers were used to stuff pillows and mattresses and to decorate hats. Eventually, after more than 100 years of being hunted, they could only be found on 6 islands in Maine.

In 1901, there was only 1 pair left south of the Canadian Border. A group of scientists stopped the hunting in 1918 by the passing the “Migratory Bird Treaty” making it illegal to kill most types of birds. This shows how people can make a difference in the ecosystem by preserving diversity. If scientists had not helped to preserve the Atlantic puffin, then the population would either become endangered or, most likely, extinct. This effort to protect them helped the food chain because if they were to go extinct, then there would be an imbalance between predator and prey, therefore affecting the community in a bad way.

Some interesting facts about the Atlantic puffin are that they can beat their wings 300-400 times a minute. They can also dive 200 feet underwater in search of small fish, and can stay under for 30 seconds. When they surface, they can be carrying fifty 7-inch fish at one time! They are expert swimmers and can “fly” underwater with their wings, using their feet for rudders.

In the summer during breeding season, the female lays a single egg. The egg is kept warm by one of the parents by keeping it under its wing. The parents take turns bringing it fish once it hatches, as it devours about 25 fish each day!

Habitat

During the summer, the Atlantic puffin’s habitat is on rocky coastal cliffs along the North Atlantic Ocean, such as Greenland, Maine, and Canada. Puffins are also found in Northern Europe, including the British Isles, parts of Russia, and Scandinavia. The Atlantic puffin is endemic to cold, northern countries. There is not much vegetation where they live, so they have adapted not to need it to survive.

During winter, they travel far from the coast out to sea in deep, icy water probably because there are many fish out there. The Atlantic puffin is rare to see close to land until mid-March. Gulls share their habitat , but they harass the puffins and try to steal their fish.

Present Status

Threatened in Maine

Physical Description

The Atlantic puffin is a short and stocky warm-blooded bird. It is a vertebrate so it is classified in the Phylum chordata. It has a black head, neck and back, all the way down to the tail feathers. They have a white face, white sides, and a white stomach. They have a large, triangular, parrot-like beak. During the breeding season, their beaks are bright orange with a yellow border around a blue patch on the back half of the beak. When breeding season ends, their beaks lose their color and become a dull gray. The puffin’s height is about 13.5 inches tall with a 2 foot wing span. The male and the female puffins look almost the same. Some people call them “Sea Clowns” due to their waddling walk, clumsy flight, sad eyes, and white face.

Diet and Feeding Habits

The Atlantic Puffin can hold up to several dozen fish at one time inside its beak. To do this it uses its rough tongue to push fish against pointy barbs on the roof of its mouth. When a new fish is caught, the tongue pushes it back with the others. The Atlantic puffin’s diet includes small fish, mollusks, and crustaceans. The Atlantic puffin is a carnivore which means that it only eats meat. Atlantic Puffins do not have any predators other than humans, but gulls can cause them trouble by stealing their catch or their babies.

Causes of Endangerment

The main reason that Atlantic puffins are threatened is because they were hunted for their meat. They are pudgy animals, which gives them a lot of meat for their small body. Also, women in the 19th century used their feathers to decorate their hats.

A more recent reason for their death is feather damage from oil spills, and food shortage from overfishing. Another reason is that people have been building their houses on sand dunes by the ocean which can affect seabirds by destroying their habitat. When Project Puffin began in 1973, the only 2 islands that they were living on in Maine were Matinicus Rock Island and Machias Seal Island. For this reason they are rare to see in Maine, even when they are all close to land. But in Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, they are as common as seagulls in Portland Harbor.

In 1973, Project Puffin attempted to reintroduce puffins to East Egg Rock. They were raised on fish which were injected with vitamins. After 2-3 years, a new colony was on East Egg Rock Island. By 1986 the project was a success and Puffins were once again living on East Egg Rock Island.

The puffin population in Maine has been growing steadily in the past seventeen years after the successful attempt to put puffins back on East Egg Rock in 1986. In the not-so-distant future, the Atlantic puffin will probably be downgraded to a specie of concern, and then probably taken off the list all together.

Personal Essay

How does diversity strengthen an ecosystem?

Diversity strengthens an ecosystem because if there isn’t a wide enough selection of organisms in an ecosystem, then the different species have to change their main food source, which might cause an imbalance in the food chain.

For example, if for some crazy reason all of the plankton in the ocean were to go extinct, then some of the fishs’ main food source would be depleted so they would most likely become endangered and maybe go extinct. So if all of the fish in the sea were to die, then many of the sea birds would be in serious trouble, and maybe go extinct. Then the predators that prey on the seabirds would eventually die without their main food supply. So as you can see, if the smallest of all organisms were to die, then most of the worlds ecosystem could be destroyed. If we have more species in the food chain, the stronger the ecosystem is.

But if an animal has to rely on a different food source for a while, or forever, then the diversity in the ecosystem can help, because it gives the animal something else to eat. So even if an animal loses its main food source, it can rely on a back-up food source as it adapts. This will possibly make the food chain weaker because an animal may be overeaten, but it prevent the extinction of a type of organism.

Even if humans do everything they can to help, that doesn’t mean that all the animals on the endangered species list will leave the list. Animals will always become endangered, then not, then endangered again according to different environmental changes such as temperature or water quality. Humans have a part to play in most animals’ disappearance on earth, due to urban sprawl, habitat destruction, and pollution. But that doesn’t mean that its all our fault.

A species may die off because it is not evolved enough, or because so many animals decided to eat their main food source. I heard on T.V. about a recent study that shows that humans do not cause global warming and that the rip in the ozone has been growing for thousands of years, proving that humans have not been the only things changing the environment. For example, back in the Middle Ages when there were no cars or pollution, it was warmer than it is now. Even though scientists are disagreeing about what causes these environmental changes, animals are still rapidly becoming extinct from the earth.

When I started this expedition, I knew almost nothing about ecosystems, food chains, and most of the other vocabulary terms, such as Chordata, scavengers, endemic, etc. But as the project went on, I became more clear why we were doing this expedition and what the vocabulary terms meant. After learning all of this information on endangered species and especially on the Atlantic puffin, I think I can act as an advocate for animals. I hope that in the near future, the Atlantic puffin will be completely taken off the endangered species list. I know that I will what I can to save animals by not littering and being responsible for what I do to the environment.

Bibliography

1.Fratercula Arctica. July 27, 1997. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu. (2-27-03).

2.Kress,Stephen. Project Puffin: How we brought Puffinsback to Egg Rock. Gardiner,ME. Tilbury House Publishers. 1997.

3.“Puffin”. Wildlife of the World. 1994.

4.What is Project Puffin. www.projectpuffin.org. (3-25-03).

5.Fish, Jen. “Panel to hear plan to limit building on sand dunes”. Portland Press Herald. 4-9-03.