Atlantic puffin at Machias Seal Island ME 653A7515
Atlantic puffins have several unique adaptions built into that large colorful bill that help them hold and carry more fish back to feed their young. The obvious one which we can easily see is that bright orange fleshy flap of skin at the back of its bill, called the rosette. That rosette is really a flexible hinge and allows the puffin to extend the back of its bill open so it can grip a bigger mouthful of many small fish at one time - cutting down on travel time to and from prime feeding areas at sea. They are so comical to see as they come back to their nesting burrows carrying up to ten "minnows" in their beak to feed the single chick waiting inside. This is the last puffin photo I will be showing, I promise. I am just getting the photos from my Maine trip organized and found out I have 863 more puffin photos from Machias Seal Island in the file.
Atlantic puffin at Machias Seal Island ME 653A7515
Atlantic puffins have several unique adaptions built into that large colorful bill that help them hold and carry more fish back to feed their young. The obvious one which we can easily see is that bright orange fleshy flap of skin at the back of its bill, called the rosette. That rosette is really a flexible hinge and allows the puffin to extend the back of its bill open so it can grip a bigger mouthful of many small fish at one time - cutting down on travel time to and from prime feeding areas at sea. They are so comical to see as they come back to their nesting burrows carrying up to ten "minnows" in their beak to feed the single chick waiting inside. This is the last puffin photo I will be showing, I promise. I am just getting the photos from my Maine trip organized and found out I have 863 more puffin photos from Machias Seal Island in the file.