Puffins in peril
The puffins were nearly wiped out a century ago and 40 years ago biologists launched a re-colonization effort called the Puffin Project by transplanting puffin chicks from Newfoundland to man-made burrows on the island.
Occupancy of puffin burrows on Matinicus Rock and at Seal Island, the two largest U.S. puffin colonies, are down by at least a third this season, said Steve Kress, director of the National Audubon Society's seabird restoration program. That likely means many birds died over the winter and others were too weak to produce offspring this season.
Last year young puffins died at an alarming rate from starvation because of a shortage of herring. This summer the young are getting plenty of hake and herring, said Kress.
Because puffins are less adaptable than other seabirds, they're more vulnerable to environmental changes and serve as a good indicator of the health of oceans and the availability of certain types of fish, Kress said.
Decoys help attract nesting birds to the island.
With colorful beaks, puffins look like a cross between a penguin and a parrot. They spend most of their lives at sea, coming ashore only to breed each spring, drawing camera-toting tourists by the boatload before the birds depart late in the summer.
The number painted on the rock marks a burrow. Puffins nest beneath the rocks preferring remote islands that have no predators, such as minks.
Bird blinds are used for monitoring puffins.
"The puffins will teach us about the oceans and what's happening to them," Kress said.