Atlantic puffins thriving on remote nesting islands off Maine
https://www.pressherald.com/2019/08/05/puffins-fill-up-nesting-islands-this-year-despite-challenges/
One of the most beloved birds in Maine is having one of its most productive seasons in years for mating pairs on remote islands off the states coast.
Atlantic puffins, with their colorful beaks and waddling walks, are one of New Englands best-recognized seabirds. Maine is the only state in the U.S. where the birds breed, and they do so on hard-to-reach places such as Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge in the Gulf of Maine.
The birds are well on their way to setting a record for the number of breeding pairs, said National Audubon Society scientist Dr. Stephen Kress, who has studied the birds for years. Kress said nearly 750 pairs nested on Seal Island and Eastern Egg Rock in 2018, and this years number will likely be higher.
The birds are thriving because of multiple factors, including an abundance of the type of fish theyre best suited to eat, such as young haddock and hake and herring. In some previous years, the birds have suffered because those fish were less available, replaced by fish that are more difficult for them to digest. The appearance of the more ideal fish could have to do with the Gulf of Maine running somewhat cool recently.
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