Puffins Pick the Perfect Home

every spring puffins congregate in giant nesting colonies this one has at least 40,000 puffins there are dozens of colonies on rocky islands scattered all across the North Atlantic the locations are far from random often spent most of the year out at sea living mainly on a diet of small fish like herring and sand eels when they nest puffins need easy access to their food supply this one's got a beak full of smelt they're all starting to come back in now from their fishing expedition which takes the miles out to sea it's like a scene out of a Hitchcock movie whoa you just hit this every so often they just come wheeling right by your head and you just really feel like you're sitting in the middle of a bird neighborhood it really feels like a community here when puffins first arrived in the colony they'd go through the formalities greeting auld acquaintance 'as and somehow they locate their mates even after eight months apart but eventually they have to get down to the business at hand repairing and refurbishing their burrows the same ones they use year after year it's a messy job but somebody's got to do it because this is why they're here to nest and breed and bring a new puffin into the world on this rocky island the real estate market can be very competitive and a choice nesting site is worth fighting for soon everyone's hard at work giving their boroughs a makeover and a fresh lining of soft grass one couple has picked a good spot right in the heart of the colony the front porch even has a roof that comes in handy when it rains others prefer a hideaway nestled in the rocks but they all have great ocean views a skewer tries it's luck

Channel: Nature on PBS

Views: 147,548

Rating: 4.912519 out of 5

Keywords: nature, natural world, natural, in the wild, wild animals, scotland, puffins, habitats, rocky, north atlantic, at sea, bird, nesting, nests, beaks, feathers, wings, pbs, public television, television, film, nature documentaries, documentary, mates, reunion, burrows, seasonal, reproduction, breeding, island

Id: vu5uVaepTn0

Length: 3min 21sec (201 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 22 2015