Animalia Life
Puffinus puffinus
TAXONOMY
Procellaria puffinus Brьnnich, 1764, Faeroes and Norway.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Puffin des Anglais; German: Schwarzschnabel-Sturmtaucher;
Spanish: Pardela Pichoneta.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
11.8–15 in (30–38 cm), 12.3–20.3 oz (350–575 g), wingspan
29.9–35 in (76–89 cm). Blackish upper body with contrasting
white underneath. Upper parts are much darker than Cory’s
shearwater; face has more black than the little shearwater. The
white undertail coverts contrast with the dark undertail coverts
of the black-vented shearwater, once considered a subspecies of
the Manx shearwater.
DISTRIBUTION
Breeds on islands on both sides of the North Atlantic, winters
in Atlantic off Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa.
HABITAT
Marine, primarily over continental shelf.
BEHAVIOR
Gregarious, swims and dives to feed. Dives can be from the
surface or from the air, and do not go deep below the water
surface. To start the breeding season, males claim abandoned
rabbit burrows, then call from within to attract females.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds on small shoaling fish, squid, crustaceans, and offal.
Does not normally feed in large flocks.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Colonial burrow nester. Breeding season begins in March. The
egg, laid in mid-May, is incubated 47–55 days and fledging oc-
curs after 62–76 days. Young fledge at night to begin a two to
three week journey to wintering sites off Brazil, Argentina, and
Uruguay. Sexual maturity at 5–6 years.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Formerly hunted for food.