“I feel better knowing it’s safe now,” she says.Baby puffins are called pufflings. As the puffling took flight, Addison was filled with happiness. The day after she found it, she helped Dooley release it on a beach. In fact, Addison has saved more than 50 pufflings since she began volunteering with the Puffin Patrol seven years ago.Īs for the baby bird she rescued that chilly August night in 2019? In the meantime, volunteers like Addison will continue doing everything they can to help stranded birds. This bothers animals less than the blue light that many bulbs produce. Another way to help is to use energy-efficient bulbs that produce warm white or amber light. You can also keep outdoor lights low to the ground and use light shields to keep the light in the intended area. First, turn off lights indoors and outdoors when not using them. Fortunately, there are many ways to help reduce light pollution and keep wildlife safe. It can disrupt other wildlife as well, including sea turtles, frogs, and bats. Light pollution doesn’t affect only pufflings. Since 2010, the Puffin Patrol has rescued more than 4,000 birds. Eventually, the pufflings are released at sea. After capturing the birds, they bring them to scientists, who evaluate the birds’ health. Throughout August, Puffin Patrol volunteers scour the towns for lost pufflings. This is when the Puffin Patrol comes to the rescue. Some birds fly into the towns and get stranded-on roads, in parking lots, in people’s backyards-where they are in danger of being killed by cars or cats. “It’s their first time outside of the burrow,” explains Wilhelm, “so they easily get confused.” On cloudy or foggy nights when the moon and stars are obscured, the light pollution from these towns disorients pufflings. ![]() The coast near the Witless Bay puffin colony is dotted with several small towns. This excessive use of artificial light is what’s known as light pollution. Big cities produce so much light that the stars can be nearly impossible to see. ![]() ![]() This light travels in all directions, reflecting off particles in the atmosphere and brightening unintended areas. And today there is more bright light-from buildings, cars, street lamps, and billboards-than ever. Humans have been using electricity to power lights for more than 100 years. Then from August through early September, they emerge at night and use the light of the moon and stars to guide them to the ocean.īut some pufflings never make it to the sea-and without help, they are unlikely to survive. The pufflings remain in their burrows for about 50 days. “When the pufflings hatch, they’re like puffballs,” says Suzanne Dooley, a director at the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, which runs the Puffin Patrol. This protected area off the east coast of Newfoundland is home to North America’s largest Atlantic puffin colony. About 600,000 puffins nest in burrows across four islands in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. “But underwater, they are so elegant,” says Sabina Wilhelm, a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service.Įach spring, puffins return to land to breed. With their pudgy bodies and waddling walks, these pigeon-sized birds can appear clumsy on land. They can dive down some 200 feet below the surface to gobble up the small marine animals that they feed on. Puffins spend most of their lives at sea their habitats extend across the North Atlantic Ocean.
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