An Atlantic Puffin on Machias Seal Island in Maine.
Swiftly warming waters in the Gulf of Maine have affected the fish which form the puffin food supply.
Low food led to a dismal reproductiveyear in 2021, when only a quarter of adults had chicks.
An Atlantic Puffin on Machias Seal Island in Maine. (Photo: COLLINS93/Depositphotos)
Last year, two-thirds of birds had chicks; this year, not quite that high but still better.
The Maine population is believed to be about 3,000 now.
Although relatively stable, the heat waves and food shifts of the climate crisis still threaten these resilient birds.
A puffin guards its nest in Maine. (Photo: ALWOODPHOTO/Depositphotos)
There will be fewer young birds in the population that are able to recruit into the breeding population.
Maine’s adorable Atlantic Puffin population is defying the climate-crisis odds.
A puffin guards its nest in Maine.
Atlantic Puffins grouped along the seashore. (Photo: ALWOODPHOTO/Depositphotos)
Atlantic Puffins grouped along the seashore.
