Decline In The Number Of Puffins

Local News

It has been reported recently that there is a decline in the numbers of Puffins in some areas including Bempton Cliffes nature reserve. But why is this happening ?
Tim Melling, RSPB Senior Conservation officer, North England, said “We are not absolutely certain as to the cause of the Puffin decline but we think it is linked to sandeels, their favourite prey. The slight rise in sea temperatures has resulted in a massive decline in tiny planktonic shrimps called copepods, and these copepods are the staple diet of the Lesser Sandeel, on which Puffins feed. A warmer water copepod (Calanus helgolandicus) has also replaced the cold water species (Calanus finmarchicus), and the warm water species is not as nutritious (less fat, fewer calories) and its breeding cycle is not synchronised with the sandeel’s life cycle whereas the cold water species is. ”
Tim continued “Puffins cannot simply move north to colder water as they have highly specialised nesting sites which are already occupied further north.
Puffins either nest on predator-free islands (like the Farnes) or on steep cliffs that are inaccessible to ground predators.
But Puffins are fiendishly difficult to count because they hide in cracks and crevices. But we are still certain that the populations have declined massively at Bempton.”
Some Facts about Puffins
1 – Small seabird around 25cms in length with black and white feathers, a large parrot like beak, often nicknamed ‘sea parrots’.
2 – A puffin’s beak (or bill) changes colour during the year. In winter, the beak has a dull grey colour, but in spring a fabulous orange! It’s thought that the bright colour helps puffins attract potential mates.
3 – Puffins are carnivores and live off small fish such as herring, hake and sand eels.
4 – Puffins are very good flyers, flapping their wings up to 400 times a minute and speeding through the air at up to 55 miles (88Km) per hour.
5 – Using their webbed feet as a rudder, puffins can dive down 200ft (61metres) under water in search of their favourite fish.
6 – Spring and Summer is the Puffin breeding season, they usually pair up with the same partner as previous years – some may have been together for all their life (average 20 years.) Both parents take it in turn to incubate the egg for 36-45 days before the baby hatches!
Their main predators are hungry gulls, which can snatch puffins mid-flight or swoop down and scoop them from the ground.

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