CBC The Nature of Things - Puffin Patrol (2015)

Puffin Patrol

Its spring on the North Atlantic and millions of Atlantic Puffins are making their way home to breed. These glorious little clown-like birds are full of contradictions. They spend eight months of the year living alone at sea, but they are extremely social when they return to land, living in jam-packed colonies. On Gull Island, just south of St John’s, Newfoundland, it’s breeding season for over 300,000 pairs of North Atlantic puffins. The birds get right down to business, using their shovel-like beaks and their big feet to dig new burrows to protect their single precious egg. Welcome to the world of this amazing little bird! Puffin Patrol invites you to share in the intimate moments of puffin life. Purpose-built burrow cameras witness every tender moment of life in the burrows, from incubation of the egg to hatching and the busy feeding schedule that follows. By season’s end, the vulnerable puffling leaves home for the first time. How will it fare? Scientists in Newfoundland, Maine and Wales are working to uncover the mysteries of this beloved bird. Where do they go in the winters? How do they survive? Their navigational abilities have intrigued scientists for decades, but now with advanced geo-tagging technology, pieces of the puzzle are coming together.

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