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Atlantic puffin - Lundi
Fratercula arctica
63.8012, -16.6591
Field Notes
Description:
Catch of the day! The Atlantic puffin is unmistakable with its broad triangular and colored beak. Atlantic puffins can carry several fish in their beaks at one time, by pushing the fish to the back of their mouth; ridges at the top of their bill secure the fish in place. This allows puffins to keep their mouth open and catch more fish without losing any. They can hold around 10 fish in their beak at once!
Habitat:
Coastal cliffs and moorland surrounded by glacial black sand dunes (sandar).
Part of a large colony at the Ingólfshöfði reserve:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ing%C3%B3lfsh%C3%B6f%C3%B0i
Notes:
The exact proportions of the beak vary with the age of the bird, and the bright orange bill plates develop in the spring. The fish in the puffin's beak are sand eels, an important food source for seabirds. Sand eels are the single most important food source for the majority of Icelandic seabird species. Sand eels stocks around Iceland have decreased recently, and this has been tentatively linked to climate change, increase in mackerel numbers and overfishing.
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