Puffin

Description

Months associated: March – May + August – November (flight)

The puffin has got it’s name from its huge and vividly colored beak. It is easy to recognize in its sommer plumage, exactly because of the huge triangular and colorful beak and the big head. During winter both the plumage and the beak are darker. The puffin is 28-34 cm, with a wing span of 50-60 cm.
The puffin stays in the open ocean of the North Sea, and it breeds in large colonies on small islands and islets i The North Atlantic.
The puffin builds its nest in small cracks of the bird cliff, and it lays eggs in May or June. Typically only one egg, which is hatched out by both parents, and that single young bird stays in the nest for 40 days, after which the parents abandon it, and it flies the nest in the dark night.
The puffin lives on small fish. It swims under sea with the help of its wings, thus being able to gather fish with the beak while using the wings for swimming. The puffin is able to gather up to ten fish and bring them in from the sea.
The puffin is relatively seldom in Denmark, but if you are lucky, you might see it putting its head under the surface of the water to form a view and then dive into the water.
The flight of autumn passes Denmark from the end of August to the end of November, and the puffin spends the winter in the open ocean and returns again from March to May.