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50-674: Stórhöfði ( Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈstourˌhœvðɪ] ) is a peninsula and the southernmost point of Heimaey , the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, in Iceland . It is claimed to be the windiest place in Europe, and holds the record for the lowest on land observation of air pressure in Europe . The name means great cape and was also the name of a street in Reykjavík 's Höfði industrial area until 2015 when it

100-791: A belly flop. While at sea, the Atlantic puffin has its annual moult . Land birds mostly lose their primaries one pair at a time to enable them still to be able to fly, but the puffin sheds all its primaries at one time and dispenses with flight entirely for a month or two. The moult usually takes place between January and March, but young birds may lose their feathers a little later in the year. The Atlantic puffin diet consists almost entirely of fish, though examination of its stomach contents shows that it occasionally eats shrimp , other crustaceans , molluscs , and polychaete worms , especially in more coastal waters. When fishing, it swims underwater using its semi-extended wings as paddles to "fly" through

150-1131: A bird such as an Arctic skua or blackback gull can cause a puffin arriving with a beak full of fish to drop all the fish the puffin was holding in its mouth. The puffin's striking appearance, large, colourful bill, waddling gait, and behaviour have given rise to nicknames such as "clown of the sea" or "sea parrot". It is the official bird of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Rhinoceros auklet Tufted puffin Horned puffin Atlantic puffin Cassin's auklet Least auklet Parakeet auklet Whiskered auklet Crested auklet Guadalupe murrelet Scripps's murrelet Craveri's murrelet Japanese murrelet Ancient murrelet Long-billed murrelet Marbled murrelet Kittlitz's murrelet Black guillemot Spectacled guillemot Pigeon guillemot Thick-billed murre Common murre Little auk † Great auk Razorbill The Atlantic puffin

200-433: A burrow in which a single white egg is laid. Chicks mostly feed on whole fish and grow rapidly. After about 6 weeks, they are fully fledged and make their way at night to the sea. They swim away from the shore and do not return to land for several years. Colonies are mostly on islands with no terrestrial predators, but adult birds and newly fledged chicks are at risk of attacks from the air by gulls and skuas . Sometimes,

250-507: A few puffins to share at the festival, or to eat at home. Atlantic puffin Alca arctica Linnaeus, 1758 The Atlantic puffin ( Fratercula arctica ), also known as the common puffin , is a species of seabird in the auk family . It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean ; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin being found in

300-426: A long-living bird with a small clutch size, such as the Atlantic puffin, the survival rate of adults is an important factor influencing the success of the species. Only 5% of the ringed puffins that failed to reappear at the colony did so during the breeding season. The rest were lost some time between departing from land in the summer and reappearing the following spring. The birds spend the winter widely spread out in

350-401: A small, peaked area of horny blue-grey skin above them and a rectangular patch below. The irises are brown or very dark blue, and each has a red orbital ring. The underparts of the bird, the breast, belly, and under tail coverts, are white. By the end of the breeding season, the black plumage may have lost its shine or even taken on a slightly brown tinge. The legs are short and set well back on

400-420: A yellow, fleshy strip at the base of the bill. At the joint of the two mandibles is a yellow, wrinkled rosette. The exact proportions of the beak vary with the age of the bird. In an immature individual, the beak has reached its full length, but it is not as broad as that of an adult. With time the bill deepens, the upper edge curves, and a kink develops at its base. As the bird ages, one or more grooves may form on

450-419: A yellowish-brown tip, and its legs and feet are also dark. Puffins from northern populations are typically larger than in the south and these populations are generally considered a different subspecies. Spending the autumn and winter in the open ocean of the cold northern seas, the Atlantic puffin returns to coastal areas at the start of the breeding season in late spring. It nests in clifftop colonies , digging

500-406: Is a species of seabird in the order Charadriiformes . It is in the auk family , Alcidae , which includes the guillemots , typical auks, murrelets , auklets , puffins , and the razorbill. The rhinoceros auklet ( Cerorhinca monocerata ) and the puffins are closely related, together composing the tribe Fraterculini. The Atlantic puffin is the only species in the genus Fratercula to occur in

550-418: Is black and underside white . This provides camouflage , with aerial predators unable to locate the birds against the dark, watery background, and underwater attackers fail to notice them as they blend in with the bright sky above the waves. When it takes off, the Atlantic puffin patters across the surface of the water while vigorously flapping its wings, before launching itself into the air. The size of

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600-444: Is seldom seen out at sea. In Maine, light-level geolocators have been attached to the legs of puffins, which store information on their whereabouts. The birds need to be recaptured to access the information, a difficult task. One bird was found to have covered 7,700 km (4,800 mi) of the ocean in 8 months, traveling northwards to the northern Labrador Sea then southeastward to the mid-Atlantic before returning to land. In

650-443: Is shown by an upright stance, with fluffed chest feathers and a cocked tail, an exaggerated slow walk, head jerking, and gaping. Submissive birds lower their heads and hold their bodies horizontally and scurry past dominant individuals. Birds normally signal their intention to take off by briefly lowering their bodies before running down the slope to gain momentum. If a bird is startled and takes off unexpectedly, panic can spread through

700-423: Is sturdily built with a thick-set neck and short wings and tail. It is 28 to 30 cm (11 to 12 in) in length from the tip of its stout bill to its blunt-ended tail. Its wingspan is 47 to 63 cm (19 to 25 in) and on land it stands about 20 cm (8 in) high. The male is generally slightly larger than the female, but they are coloured alike. The forehead, crown, and nape are glossy black, as are

750-487: The Faroes (subspecies F. a. grabae ) weighs 400 g (0.9 lb) and has a wing length of 158 mm (6.2 in). Individuals from southern Iceland (subspecies F. a. arctica ) are intermediate between the other two in size. Ernst Mayr has argued that the differences in size are clinal and are typical of variations found in the peripheral population and that no subspecies should be recognised. The Atlantic puffin

800-485: The IUCN . On land, it has the typical upright stance of an auk. At sea, it swims on the surface and feeds on zooplankton, small fish , and crabs, which it catches by diving underwater, using its wings for propulsion. This puffin has a black crown and back, pale grey cheek patches, and a white body and underparts. Its broad, boldly marked red-and-black beak and orange legs contrast with its plumage. It moults while at sea in

850-542: The International Ornithological Congress . The three subspecies generally recognized are: The only morphological difference between the three is their size. Body length, wing length, and size of beak all increase at higher latitudes. For example, a puffin from northern Iceland (subspecies F. a. naumanii ) weighs about 650 g (1 lb 7 oz) and has a wing length of 186 mm ( 7 + 5 ⁄ 16  in), while one from

900-531: The Ottoman -controlled Barbary Coast raided several towns on the south coast of Iceland and outlying islands. They attacked Grindavík and Heimaey. In Grindavík, townspeople could flee into the lava field of Reykjanes and hide indefinitely. Heimaey was so isolated that it was vulnerable and people suffered. Many heroic stories were told of the people who survived the invasion, most notably Guðríður Símonardóttir . Better known as Tyrkja-Gudda (Turkish-Gudda), she

950-509: The northerly distribution of the bird, being derived from the Greek ἄρκτος ( arktos ), the bear , referring to the northerly constellation , the Ursa Major (Great Bear). The vernacular name "puffin" – puffed in the sense of swollen – was originally applied to the fatty, salted meat of young birds of the unrelated species Manx shearwater ( Puffinus puffinus ), which in 1652 was known as

1000-465: The "Manks puffin". It is an Anglo-Norman word ( Middle English pophyn or poffin ) used for the cured carcasses. The Atlantic puffin acquired the name at a much later stage, possibly because of its similar nesting habits, and it was formally applied to Fratercula arctica by Pennant in 1768. While the species is also known as the common puffin, "Atlantic puffin" is the English name recommended by

1050-565: The Atlantic Ocean. Two other species are known from the northeast Pacific, the tufted puffin ( Fratercula cirrhata ) and the horned puffin ( Fratercula corniculata ), the latter being the closest relative of the Atlantic puffin. The generic name Fratercula comes from the Medieval Latin fratercula , friar , a reference to their black and white plumage, which resembles monastic robes. The specific name arctica refers to

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1100-408: The air from the fissures. Volcanic ash was blown to sea. Later, the situation deteriorated. When the fissures closed, the eruption converted to a concentrated lava flow that headed toward the harbour. The winds changed, and half a million cubic metres of ash blew on the town. During the night, the 5,000 inhabitants of the island were evacuated, mostly by fishing boats, as almost the entire fishing fleet

1150-564: The air. It is typically silent at sea, except for the soft purring sounds it sometimes makes in flight. At the breeding colony, it is quiet above ground, but in its burrow makes a growling sound somewhat resembling a chainsaw being revved up. The Atlantic puffin is a bird of the colder waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. It breeds on the coasts of northwest Europe, the Arctic fringes, and eastern North America. More than 90% of

1200-419: The back, wings, and tail. A broad, black collar extends around the neck and throat. On each side of the head is a large, lozenge-shaped area of very pale grey. These face patches taper to a point and nearly meet at the back of the neck. The shape of the head creates a crease extending from the eye to the hindmost point of each patch, giving the appearance of a grey streak. The eyes look almost triangular because of

1250-406: The best locations, the most desirable nesting sites being the densely packed burrows on grassy slopes just above the cliff edge where take-off is most easily accomplished. The birds are usually monogamous , but this is the result of their fidelity to their nesting sites rather than to their mates, and they often return to the same burrows year after year. Later arrivals at the colony may find that all

1300-486: The best nesting sites have already been taken, so are pushed towards the periphery, where they are in greater danger of predation. Younger birds may come ashore a month or more after the mature birds and find no remaining nesting sites. They do not breed until the following year, although if the ground cover surrounding the colony is cut back before these subadults arrive, the number of successfully nesting pairs may be increased. Atlantic puffins are cautious when approaching

1350-679: The bird ranges widely across the North Atlantic Ocean, including the North Sea , and may enter the Arctic Circle . In the summer, its southern limit stretches from northern France to Maine; in the winter, the bird may range as far south as the Mediterranean Sea and North Carolina . These oceanic waters have such a vast extent of 15 × 10 ^ –30 × 10 ^  km (6 × 10 ^ –12 × 10 ^  sq mi) that each bird has more than 1 km of range at its disposal, so

1400-413: The body, giving the bird its upright stance when on land. Both legs and large webbed feet are bright orange, contrasting with the sharp, black claws. The beak is very distinctive. From the side, the beak is broad and triangular, but viewed from above, it is narrow. The half near the tip is orange-red and the half near the head is slate grey . A yellow, chevron-shaped ridge separates the two parts, with

1450-459: The colony with all the birds launching themselves into the air and wheeling around in a great circle. The colony is at its most active in the evening, with birds standing outside their burrows, resting on the turf, or strolling around. Then, the slopes empty for the night as the birds fly out to sea to roost , often choosing to do so at fishing grounds ready for early-morning provisioning. The puffins are energetic burrow engineers and repairers, so

1500-410: The colony, and no bird likes to land in a location where other puffins are not already present. They make several circuits of the colony before alighting. On the ground, they spend much time preening, spreading oil from their preen gland, and setting each feather in its correct position with beak or claw. They also spend time standing by their burrow entrances and interacting with passing birds. Dominance

1550-443: The eruption. The eruption is described by John McPhee in his book The Control of Nature . Heimaey is home to around 4,500 people, and eight million puffins every summer. Many millions of other birds migrate there for breeding and feeding. The island is connected to the rest of Iceland by a ferry and Vestmannaeyjar Airport . Most people on the island live off fishing. During an annual festival, people are allowed to catch

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1600-501: The global population is found in Europe (4,770,000–5,780,000 pairs, equalling 9,550,000–11,600,000 adults) and colonies in Iceland alone are home to 60% of the world's Atlantic puffins. The largest colony in the western Atlantic (estimated at more than 260,000 pairs) can be found at the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve , south of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador . Other major breeding locations include

1650-535: The grassy slopes may be undermined by a network of tunnels. This causes the turf to dry out in summer, vegetation to die, and dry soil to be whirled away by the wind. Burrows sometimes collapse, and humans may cause this to happen by walking incautiously across nesting slopes. A colony on Grassholm was lost through erosion when so little soil was left that burrows could not be made. New colonies are very unlikely to start up spontaneously because this gregarious bird only nests where others are already present. Nevertheless,

1700-634: The north and west coasts of Norway, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney , the west coast of Greenland , and the coasts of Newfoundland . Smaller-sized colonies are also found elsewhere in the British Isles, the Murmansk area of Russia , Novaya Zemlya , Spitzbergen , Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Maine. Islands seem particularly attractive to the birds for breeding as compared to mainland sites, likely to avoid predators. While at sea,

1750-664: The northeastern Pacific . The Atlantic puffin breeds in Russia , Iceland , Ireland , Britain , Norway , Greenland , Newfoundland and Labrador , Nova Scotia , and the Faroe Islands , and as far south as Maine in the west and France in the east. It is most commonly found in the Westman Islands , Iceland. Although it has a large population and a wide range, the species has declined rapidly, at least in parts of its range, resulting in it being rated as vulnerable by

1800-421: The open ocean, though a tendency exists for individuals from different colonies to overwinter in different areas. Little is known of their behaviour and diet at sea, but no correlation was found between environmental factors, such as temperature variations, and their mortality rate. A combination of the availability of food in winter and summer probably influences the survival of the birds, since individuals starting

1850-400: The red portion. The bird has a powerful bite. The characteristic bright orange bill plates and other facial characteristics develop in the spring. At the close of the breeding season, these special coatings and appendages are shed in a partial moult. This makes the beak appear less broad, the tip less bright, and the base darker grey. The eye ornaments are shed and the eyes appear round. At

1900-442: The same time, the feathers of the head and neck are replaced and the face becomes darker. This winter plumage is seldom seen by humans because when they have left their chicks, the birds head out to sea and do not return to land until the next breeding season. The juvenile bird is similar to the adult in plumage, but altogether duller with a much darker grey face and yellowish-brown beak tip and legs. After fledging, it makes its way to

1950-466: The spring, mature birds return to land, usually to the colony where they were hatched. Birds that were removed as chicks and released elsewhere were found to show fidelity to their point of liberation. They congregate for a few days on the sea in small groups offshore before returning to the cliff-top nesting sites. Each large puffin colony is divided into subcolonies by physical boundaries such as stands of bracken or gorse . Early arrivals take control of

2000-507: The surface. It can catch several small fish in one dive, holding the first ones in place in its beak with its muscular, grooved tongue while it catches others. The two mandibles are hinged in such a way that they can be held parallel to hold a row of fish in place and these are also retained by inward-facing serrations on the edges of the beak. It copes with the excess salt that it swallows partly through its kidneys and partly by excretion through specialised salt glands in its nostrils. In

2050-495: The task of finding even one bird on the vast ocean is formidable. When at sea, they bob about like a cork , propelling themselves through the water with powerful thrusts of their feet and keeping turned into the wind, even when resting and apparently asleep. They spend much time each day preening to keep their plumage in order and spread oil from their preen glands . Their downy under plumage remains dry and provides thermal insulation. In common with other seabirds, their upper surface

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2100-692: The town and threatened to close its harbour, its main income source. An operation to cool the advancing lava with sea water saved the harbour. In tradition, Herjólfur Bárðarson was said to be the first person to settle in Heimaey. According to the Landnáma , he built his farm in Herjólfsdalur (literally: Herjólf's valley) about 900. The archaeological excavation in 1971 of ancient ruins in Herjólfsdalur revealed that there had been settlement nearly 100 years earlier. In 1627, three Arab pirate ships from

2150-419: The water and heads out to sea, and does not return to land for several years. In the interim, each year, it will have a broader bill, paler face patches, and brighter legs and beaks. The Atlantic puffin has a direct flight, typically 10 m (35 ft) above the sea surface and higher over the water than most other auks. It mostly moves by paddling along efficiently with its webbed feet and seldom takes to

2200-506: The water and its feet as a rudder. It swims fast and can reach considerable depths and stay submerged for up to a minute. It can eat shallow-bodied fish as long as 18 cm (7 in), but its prey is commonly smaller fish, around 7 cm (3 in) long. An adult bird needs to eat an estimated 40 of these per day – sand eels , herring , capelin , and sprats being the most often consumed. It fishes by sight and can swallow small fish while submerged, but larger specimens are brought to

2250-421: The wing has adapted to its dual use, both above and below the water, and its surface area is small relative to the bird's weight. To maintain flight, the wings must beat very rapidly at a rate of several times each second. The bird's flight is direct and low over the surface of the water, and it can travel at 80 km/h (50 mph). Landing is awkward; it either crashes into a wave crest or in calmer water, does

2300-406: The winter in poor condition are less likely to survive than those in good condition. Like many seabirds, the Atlantic puffin spends most of the year far from land in the open ocean and only visits coastal areas to breed. It is a sociable bird and it usually breeds in large colonies. Atlantic puffins lead solitary existences when out at sea, and this part of their lives has been little studied, as

2350-411: The winter, and some of the brightly coloured facial characteristics are lost, with colour returning during the spring. The external appearances of the adult male and female are identical, though the male is usually slightly larger. The juvenile has similar plumage, but its cheek patches are dark grey. The juvenile does not have brightly coloured head ornamentation, its bill is narrower and is dark grey with

2400-486: Was in dock. The encroaching lava flow threatened to destroy the harbour. The eruption lasted until 3 July. Icelanders sprayed the lava with six million tons of cold seawater, causing some to solidify and much to be diverted, thus saving the harbour. During the eruption, half of the town was crushed and the island expanded in length. The eruption increased the area of Heimaey from 11.2 km (4.3 sq mi) to 13.44 km (5.19 sq mi). Only one man died in

2450-689: Was renamed Svarthöfði ( black cape ), which is the Icelandic term for Darth Vader . The street had formerly been named Bratthöfði, which translates as steep cape . Stórhöfði is the location of one of the oldest lighthouses in Iceland, having operated since 1906. Weather observations began at the lighthouse in 1921, which, since 1940, have been conducted at night too. 63°23′56″N 20°17′18″W  /  63.399022°N 20.288315°W  / 63.399022; -20.288315 Heimaey In January 1973, lava flow from nearby Eldfell destroyed half

2500-700: Was taken by the pirates from her home at Stakkagerði on Heimaey to the slave market in Algeria . She was eventually ransomed back to Denmark by King Christian IV of Denmark and was re-educated by and later married the poet Hallgrímur Pétursson . The Hallgrímskirkja Lutheran church in Reykjavík is named in his honour. At 01:00 on 23 January 1973, a volcanic eruption of the mountain Eldfell began on Heimaey. The ground on Heimaey started to quake and fissures formed. The fissures grew to 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in length, and lava began to erupt. Lava sprayed into

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