Beautiful Atlantic Puffins Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

Atlantic puffins dig burrows in the ground where they nest and lay their eggs. Each burrow is typically about 2 feet (60 centimetres) long, and they usually have a bend in them. The nest is made of feathers and is placed at the very back of the burrow.

There is also a toilet area in Atlantic puffin nests where chicks go to the bathroom. This area is moved out towards the end of nests as chicks mature. The toilet area is necessary to help keep chicks clean. If they get too dirty from excrement, they may damage the waterproofing on their feathers, which would be fatal as soon as they fledge the nest and swim in the sea.

Answer: Machias Seal Island

Machias Seal Island is a small island between the coasts of the province of New Brunswick in Canada, and the state of Maine in the US. The island has an area of approximately 8 hectares (20 acres). A lighthouse was built by the Canadian Coast Guard in 1832 and has been staffed by lighthouse keepers from Canada since then. No other people live on the island.

Despite the two countries disputing ownership if the island, it has been designated a bird sanctuary to help protect the Atlantic puffins that nest there.

Answer: Newfoundland and Labrador

The Atlantic puffin was chosen as the official bird of this east-coast province because more than 95 percent of all the Atlantic puffins in North America breed on the coasts of the Newfoundland and Labrador. The largest colony in the province can be seen in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, south of St. John's. Over 200,000 puffin pairs nest there each year.

Answer: 1

The other three species of puffin include the horned puffin, the tufted puffin, and the rhinoceros auklet. The Atlantic puffin is the smallest, weighing an average of about 500 grams (a little more than one pound), and stand about 18 cm (10 inches) tall.

The other three species of puffins have larger average sizes. Horned puffins weigh about 600 grams, tufted puffins weigh around 800 grams, and the rhinoceros auklet weighs about 600 grams.

Answer: Iceland

Atlantic puffin colonies live all over the north Atlantic, including the countries of Canada and the United States on the western side of the Atlantic, and France, Russia, Iceland, and Greenland on the northern and eastern sides of the Atlantic. Approximately 60% of all Atlantic puffins live in Iceland.

Answer: Orange

In the winter, the bills and feet of puffins fade to a dull orange. However, in the spring their beaks and feet turn a bright orange colour in preparation for the breeding season. Their beaks also increase in size as the bird matures. The size and colour of puffin beaks may be sought-after characteristics during mating. Atlantic puffins mate for life like some other water birds.

Answer: 10

Puffins leave their nests to dive for fish to feed their young. They gather small fish, such as sand eels, herring, hake and capelin to take back to their young. They can carry several fish back to their nest at a time. Their special beak allows them to carry an average of around ten fish per trip.They have a rough tongue that holds fish against spines on their palates.

Then they open their beaks to catch more fish. Puffin diets vary from colony to colony because of the variety of fish around the breeding land.

Answer: They go out to sea

Atlantic puffins spend the months from April to August in their breeding colonies on land. After that, they disperse into and spend the winters on the open ocean. They are able to do this with the characteristics they have developed that include waterproof feathers, the ability to dive and catch food, and the ability to drink salt water.

Answer: 1

Puffins typically lay one egg per year. Each mated pair tends to return to the same burrow every year. The male and female share the duties of incubating the egg and rearing the chick. During incubation, the parents will often leave the egg by itself early on, but as the date for hatching gets closer, they tend to stay with the egg for longer periods of time.

Answer: Chainsaw

Puffins make loud growling calls usually from their underground burrows that sound like a muffled chainsaw. The chicks make a "peep" for food from their parents. The Audubon Society provides recordings of the unusual adult calls on their website for those interested in hearing the sound.