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Horned puffin burrows are usually about 1 meter (3.3 feet) deep, ending in a chamber, while the tunnel leading to a tufted puffin burrow may be up to 2.75 meters (9.0 feet) long. The nesting substrate of the tufted and Atlantic puffins is soft soil, into which tunnels are dug; in contrast, the nesting sites of horned puffins are rock crevices ...
Seals have been known to kill puffins, and large fish may also do so. Most puffin colonies are on small islands, and this is no coincidence, as it avoids predation by ground-based mammals such as foxes, rats, stoats, weasels, cats, and dogs. When they come ashore, the birds are still at risk and the main threats come from the sky. [16]: 102–103
The colour of a bird's beak results from concentrations of pigments—primarily melanins and carotenoids—in the epidermal layers, including the rhamphotheca. [39] In general, beak colour depends on a combination of the bird's hormonal state and diet. Colours are typically brightest as the breeding season approaches and palest after breeding. [40]
The beak size of medium ground finches can evolve in a relatively short period of time, depending on if it is a wet season or dry season. [19] Survival and beak size of the birds are fueled by the environment. Weather conditions will favor one beak size over the other, causing birds of the unfavorable bill size to die off. [19]
To achieve flight, horned puffins either jump off a cliff to gain momentum, or races across the water to reaching the speed required for takeoff. [12] Horned puffins fly compactly and quickly, 10 to 30 meters (33 to 98 ft) above sea level. The wing beats are constant, rapid and regular. [14]
Puffinus is a Neo-Latin loanword based on the English "puffin". The original Latin term for shearwaters was usually the catchall name for sea-birds, mergus . [ 8 ] " Puffin" and its variants, such as poffin, pophyn and puffing, [ 9 ] referred to the cured carcass of the fat nestling of the shearwater, a former delicacy. [ 10 ]
The tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata), also known as crested puffin, is a relatively abundant medium-sized pelagic seabird in the auk family (Alcidae) found throughout the North Pacific Ocean. It is one of three species of puffin that make up the genus Fratercula and is easily recognizable by its thick red bill and yellow tufts.
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and carrying objects, killing prey, or fighting), preening, courtship, and feeding young.