Puffin

There are three species of puffin: the Atlantic puffin, horned puffin and tufted puffin.

They eat fish and other marine organisms. Their wings are well adapted for short quick flights. These birds can catch up to 10 small sized fish in a single purge.

Puffins have large bills and shed the colourful outer parts of their bills after the breeding season, leaving a smaller and duller beak. They are easily noted for their black and white plumage and their brightly coloured beaks during their breeding season.

Though only a very few puffins breed on the British mainland, there are many colonies on offshore Islands. In Wales they can be seen off the coast of Pembrokeshire, on the Islands of Skomer and Skokholm, both home to several thousand puffins.

As well as puffins, over 200,000 Manx shearwater nest on Skomer and have a similar black and white makeup, although with the latter being nocturnal they are rarely seen in daylight hours.

Puffins form long-term pair bonds with the female laying a single egg and both parents taking turns to incubate the egg and feed the chick.