The Puffin Book

List of Figures 7

List of Tables 11

Introduction and acknowledgements 13

1 Puffins and auks 15

2 Studies of Puffins 22

3 Appearance, development and moult 27

4 Distribution and status in Britain, Ireland and France 41

5 Distribution and status in Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, Norway, Russia, Svalbard, Greenland and the western Atlantic 58

6 Colony attendance and incubation 70

7 Chick rearing and breeding success 88

8 Puffin behaviour Kenny Taylor 103

9 Food and feeding 114

10 Predators, pirates, parasites and competitors 139

11 Survival of Puffins and the Isle of May population 148

12 Puffins away from the colony 158

13 Puffins and people 166

14 Other threats to Puffins 178

15 Overview and the future 195

Appendix 1 Measurements of Puffins throughout the range 201

Appendix 2 Sources of counts and estimates and general background information used in Chapters 4 and 5 203

Appendix 3 First and last dates of Puffins in Grampian, on the Isle of May and Fair Isle 206

Appendix 4 Dates when Puffins were first seen on the sea and ashore and were last recorded ashore or carrying fish on Skokholm 208

Appendix 5 Timing of breeding of Puffins on the Isle of May and the Fame Islands 210

Appendix 6 Measurements of eggs of Puffins throughout the range 212

Appendix 7 Annual peak and fledging weights, age at fledging and growth rates of Puffins on the Isle of May, 1974-2010 213

Appendix 8 Breeding success of Puffins on the Isle of May, 1973-2010 217

Appendix 9 Numbers of fish brought to young Puffins on the Isle of May, 1973-2010 220

Appendix 10 Diet by weight of young Puffins on the Isle of May, 1973-2010 223

Appendix 11 Lengths of sandeels, rockling and other Gadidae dropped by Puffins on the Isle of May, 1973-2010 226

Appendix 12 Lengths of sprat, herring and unidentified Clupeidae dropped by Puffins on the Isle of May, 1973-2010 228

Appendix 13 Annual mean weights of loads of fish, number of fish per load and frequency of feeds brought to young Puffins on the Isle of May, 1973-2010 230

Appendix 14 Scientific names of birds, mammals and amphibians mentioned in the text 232

References 233

Index 251