Horned puffins emit a relatively small number of sounds, mostly low in volume. The puffin reaches its adult size and weight at this period. The beak gains its developed form at the age of one year and continues to grow over the years, reaching the brightest coloration at five years, the point of sexual maturity. Young puffins lose their greyish facial spots during their first springtime. The juvenile's height is less than that of the adult at the time of leaving the nest. The horned puffin chick has smoky-gray cheeks and a fine, black triangular-shaped beak. Puffins can see ultraviolet rays, allowing them to spot luminescence on the bills of other puffins during the courtship display. The puffin's bill has fluorescent properties that are also used to attract a partner. This phase is referred to as eclipse plumage. The brilliant outer layers of the rhamphotheca are shed in late summer, as the face reverts to a gray and black color, and the legs and feet fade to a pale fleshy color. The size and color of the rhamphotheca helps to attract a mate. In summer (breeding) plumage, the bill's outer layer – the rhamphotheca – grows in size and turns bright yellow with a dark orange tip. The horned puffin's bill, which is larger than those of other puffin species, is red at the tip and yellow at the base. The cheeks are white, with a yellow wattle at the base of the bill. A dark eyestripe extends backwards from the eye towards the occiput. Sexually mature birds have a small fleshy black "horn" extending upwards from the eye, from which the animal derives its common name - the horned puffin. Horned puffins are monomorphic (the male and female exhibit the same plumage coloration). The height of the adult puffin is approximately 20 cm (8 in), the weight is approximately 500 g (18 oz), and the wingspan is approximately 58 cm (23 in). The Ainu people of Sakhalin call them etupirka, which means "beautiful beak".Ī breeding pair of puffins on a rocky ledge. The Yup’ik of the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta call the puffin "qilangaq", "qengacuar(aq)" (“little nose”), or "qategarpak" (“large white breast”). It was later extended to include the similar and related Pacific puffins. The Atlantic puffin acquired the name at a much later stage, possibly because of its similar nesting habits, and it was formally applied to that species by Pennant in 1768. It is an Anglo-Norman word ( Middle English pophyn or poffin) used for the cured carcasses. The vernacular name puffin – puffed in the sense of swollen – was originally applied to the fatty, salted meat of young birds of the unrelated species, the Manx shearwater ( Puffinus puffinus), formerly known as the "Manks puffin". Corniculata means “horn-shaped” or “crescent-shaped”, in reference to the black horn above the bird's eye. Next year, the pribolofs, where apparently you can get so close to the puffins that you can do retinal scans.The binomial name of this species, Fratercula corniculata, comes from the Medieval Latin fratercula, meaning “ friar” their black-and-white plumage resembling the robes of monks. One of the wonderful things about shooting in the arctic is it doubles or triples the amount of time in the day for good light :-) It was taken near midnight - but being near the solstice, the sun never went down - it just stayed wonderfully low. This was the only one of two or three lucky shots I was happy with. It wasn’t so much a matter of aim, as it was just hope the birds in the frame when you take the shot.Blind squirrel hunting for acorns. Most were really, really, blurry cause the boat was rocking so much. I took 2000 shots from a rocking boat with my giant lens hand held. Arctic foxes, ravens stealing sky blue eggs, nesting kittiwakes, dizzying heights of rugged beauty.Īnd then I saw puffins. Sometimes when the boat came near the cliffs HUNDREDS of murres would take off all around us. I was speechless (except for saying “holy cow”, and “awesome” about every 5 seconds). Razor sharp rocks, literally, on this weird island with towering spires and no place to come near, teeming with thousands of birds on the cliff, nesting and defending any flat space on these needles or cliffs. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It was right out of a science fiction novel. I heard rumors that it had a puffin rookery. It’s an island that’s 5 miles off of the coast, that even the locals never go to. The place is right out of an adventure story. The owner of the local Skidoo-snowmobile, all-terrain-vehicle shop (a big business in Nome) had a 16 foot custom made skiff that took us out to seldom-visited Sledge Island. My thanks to Carol and Jim Dory whom I met on flickr! :-)Ĭarol and Jim introduced me to many of the local community of Nome, a town which reminds me of my own childhood small town.
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