7/25/2023 0 Comments Puffin happy feet![]() The chick grows rapidly, after about six weeks it is fully developed and capable of caring for itself.It takes 36-45 days for the baby “puffling” to hatch. The male and female share parental responsibilities, they take it in turns incubating the egg.Each year they return to the same burrow. To make their nests, known as burrows, they dig out a burrow in the turf or soil where they lay their single egg. ![]() They usually mate for life and a couple can stay together for over 20 years! In late spring, thousands of puffins form large colonies on coastal clifftops, coming together for the breeding season.Each bird has more than a square kilometer to itself, so it is very unlikely that anyone will spot a puffin on the open sea in winter. ![]() While at sea, the birds spread out widely across the North Atlantic Ocean.Each female produces a single puffling every year. They spend most of their lives resting on waves, coming ashore only to breed and raise their young, known as pufflings. This is because puffins spend the winter – more precisely, the larger part of the year, some eight months – out at sea.Their winter dress is, though, seldom seen by humans! The birds develop their brighter colors once again during the spring. Their white feathers become dark gray and their beaks also change, becoming narrower, with a tip that is bright. At the end of the breeding season, some of the special characteristics of their plumage are lost when they molt. They change their color during the year.The Icelandic nickname of the puffins is “prófastur” which means preacher. ![]()
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