Puffin

__Basic Information:__
Scientific Name: //Fratercula arctica//


 * **Domain** || Eukaryota ||
 * **Kingdom** || Animalia ||
 * **Phylum** || Chordata ||
 * **Class** || Aves ||
 * **Order** || Charadriiformes ||
 * **Family** || Alcidae ||
 * **Genus** || Fratercula ||
 * **Species** || F. arctica ||

__Habitat:__
Puffin stay around the North Atlantic.The puffins are UK's well loved birds and most easily recognized. During the winter the puffin disperse over the open ocean reaching as far south as the Azores and Canary islands.

The Puffins Spend most of the year out in the open ocean near the North Atlantic. They come on land only in order to breed. Since they spend most of the year in the ocean they interact with the species that live in the ocean like fish and sand eels. Puffins have a large bill which it can catch fish easily. Also it can store fish for the baby puffins out on shore. They use their wings to swim under water to find food. Just before the breeding season they have their annual moult. The birds are flight less for a while after moulting but they are still able to go in the water. They are also able to go to their breeding colonies between February and early April. Comical displays ensue occurs upon return including bill knocking and ritualisied walking around the burrow entrance.New burrows may be used and old ones also can be utilized.A single egg is laid in the chamber at the end of the burrow in May.After an incubation period up to 43 days the chick hatches and stays inside the burrow for six weeks or so after which time it is fully independent and dispersing out to sea.

__Species Interactions:__
Puffins are carnivores that eat only fish. Throughout the year their diet consist of many various types of fish. Their food web consist of the fish eating stuff in the water like planktons and algea, then the puffins catch the fish and eat it. The puffins get eaten by Great black-backed gulls, Great skuas, also by rats and other ground mammalians. Puffins dive beneath the surface of the water and swim with their wings. They have large bills to catch fish from the water easily. If they have young to feed they carry the fish in their bills to take back to the young.

__Reproduction:__
For most of the year the puffins stay at sea. They return to land in order to breed. Just before the breeding season the annual moult happens. The birds are flightless for a time after the moult but they still are able to swim underwater and return to the breeding colonies between February and early April.Their comical displays include bill-knocking and ritualised walking around the burrow entrance. A single egg is laid in chamber at the end of the burrow. After an incubation of 43 days the chick hatches and stays inside the burrow for another six weeks or so and the parent puffin feeds it until it is fully independent and goes out to sea.

Free Topic: Editorial:
Puffins today are in the least concern of the conservation status.During the nineteenth century the poppulation of these birds were greatly reduced due to hunting. These birds were hunted for their met and also for their eggs.These Puffins are still hunted and killed to be eaten but this has a little effect on their population it is insignificant compared to the other threats they have against them. For example in the island Faroe the birds may be hunted for local consumption. That is after the breeding season when their are excess birds around so it is easier to catch the birds. That is how the hunt the birds. Since the puffins are in the open ocean most of winter it is suspectable to human impact such as oil spills. If an oil spill occurs accidentally and the birds are exposed to it and they inhale or ingest it that will lead to liver and kidney damage. This damage can contribute to loss of reproduction success and cause damage to developing embryos. That shows how us humans affect the environment of animals like Puffins.