Puffin Take-off
by Carla Parris
Title
Puffin Take-off
Artist
Carla Parris
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photograph
Description
Atlantic puffins are seabirds, and this becomes very evident when they take flight. Once airborne they do fine, but they look awkward and clumsy in the process of taking off.
This puffin was photographed near Eastern Egg Rock off the coast of Maine, near Boothbay, where there is a nesting colony each year between April and August.
There are three varieties of puffins - Atlantic, tufted, and horned. They all belong to the the biological genus Fraternica, whose name comes from an old Latin word for friar. This is because of the birds' black and white coloring on their body which looks like a monk's robe.
Puffins are often called clowns of the ocean or clowns of the sea. I think this is due to their colorful beaks and their clown-like cross-shaped eyes, although, on additional reflection, I wonder if it could have been influenced by someone who saw them struggling to take off!
Uploaded
November 26th, 2022
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