Little Puffin's First Flight by Jonathan London

Author:Jonathan London
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781941821565
Publisher: West Margin Press

But not all the fish they catch make it to the nest. Larger birds, including gulls, ravens, peregrine falcons, and snowy owls, often try to steal their catch. These birds, and bald eagles too, will snatch a puffling that strays outside its burrow. Other predators include arctic and red foxes, as well as rats. This is why one puffin parent always stays behind at the nest: to guard the puffling while the other dives for food.

Once a chick’s feathers grow in (at around six weeks), however, its parents leave. No more guarding or feeding. Driven by hunger, the fledgling takes its first flight alone, then stays at sea for two to five years. Dull gray in the winter, some come back brightly colored in the spring and hang out in “clubs” with other young puffins, looking for a future mate. At four or five years old, this beautiful seabird is ready to start a family of its own. Most puffins mate for life and use the same nest site every year.

Although Horned Puffins are not endangered, their numbers are dropping due to pollution, the use of gill nets for fishing, and the decline of their prey fish. They are protected in Alaska, but not in British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, or California, where they spend the winter. Indeed, these delightful and colorful Clowns of the Ocean are becoming an increasingly rare sight.

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