Yikes, Puffin Predators! Posted by Audubon Gloria MODPerhaps the greatest natural predator of the Atlantic Puffin is the Great Black-backed Gull. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, these massive gulls are known to catch puffins in mid-air and can easily barge into soil burrows. In Maine, deep rock crevices are where puffins call home and the gull populations are now at a more reasonable level, so it is less of an issue. However, gulls can still prevent puffins from recolonizing nesting areas and consume pufflings & eggs by plucking them from their burrows. Herring Gulls and Laughing Gulls are smaller gulls that steal the beakfuls of fish that puffins bring back for their young, or kleptoparasitism. To adapt to these behaviors, puffins will circle their island several times before making a mad dash to their burrows to avoid being robbed.
On the three Seabird Institute research islands with puffin colonies (Seal Island, Eastern Egg Rock, and Matinicus Rock), puffin predation is not an issue we see very often. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a threat. On the West Coast, Tufted and Horned Puffins are predated on by bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and other predators. Across all puffin species and even other seabirds, they face the kleptoparasitism (food stealing) by gulls.
Human disturbances are still some of the biggest threats puffins face. Historic hunting for food, feathers, and eggs has slowed down, but puffins are still found as gill net bycatch and can still be predated upon by introduced predators (such as rats and other mammals).
Gimme your food! A Laughing Gull chases an Atlantic Puffin, determined to get the beakful of fish. Photo: Jean Hall.
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Topic: Puffin Burrow at Seal Island, Maine, USA 2019-20 (Read 103056 times)