Puffins often carry more than one fish at a time. It would be quite inefficient to carry each individual fish back to the nest one at a time.

Photo by Paul McIlroy on Wikimedia Commons.

The puffin holds the fish it’s already caught against the roof of their mouth with its tongue and opens its beak to catch more. Puffins’ tongues and mouths are specially adapted to be able to hold onto fish; in this excellent photo (not the one above) you can see the spines on the roof of an Atlantic puffin’s mouth that help hold the already-caught fish in place.

Birds catch fish in three main ways.

Some birds will dive into the water to catch fish, birds that grab fish from the surface, and birds that sit on the water surface and dive. A bird’s body shape, bill, feet, and eyesight all help birds catch fish.

Birds That Dive

Many fish-eating birds will come in from above, flying over the water and waiting for the perfect time to strike or waiting on perches. They will enter the water at just the right angle, snatch their prey and return to the air to repeat the process. One of the most impressive birds to do this is the northern gannet. Gannets are large sea birds that can dive with great power into the water. They often come together around large shoals and can be seen fishing alongside marine mammals.

Kingfishers are different and wait patiently on perches darting in and out of the water with ease. These birds do their best to be at the right height, but this comes more naturally to long-legged waders like herons and egrets. Heron species can stand statuesque by the water, waiting for the right moment to strike. Egrets, meanwhile, are more active.

Surface Feeders

Some birds from above try their best not to enter the water. Ospreys and eagles will swoop in with their feet outstretched, grab the fish, and use their powerful muscles to lift it back into the air and away to somewhere they can feed. Black skimmers will fly close to the water with their bills open and scoop up what they can, using as little energy as possible.

Surface Divers

Surface divers will spend their time on the surface of a lake or the ocean, periodically diving down to hunt for prey. The loon can dive for as long as five minutes, using their heavier bodies to descend deeper into the water and search for food. You could see one dive, which could be a while before it reappears at a different point on the lake.

Species like cormorants will also take big chances on larger fish that smaller birds can’t carry. Birdwatchers are often amazed to see them struggling with large fish like adult salmon and somehow managing to swallow them whole.

Physical Adaptations

Birds that fish need the perfect tools for the job, which can vary depending on how they hunt. The physical adaptations of fishing birds are also important for successful hunting. The body shape is essential, as are the differences in attributes like their bills and feet. Those that enter the water need to do so safely and effectively. It also helps to have good eyesight to handle the properties of the water.

Body Shape

Body shape can also make a big difference. When chasing after them in the water, birds need a streamlined body to enter the water and come away with their prize. Many sea birds will have a longer neck, sleek bodies, and legs positioned further back. This can make them awkward in the air or on land but brilliant underwater.

The gannet takes this idea of the perfectly streamlined body to new levels. It can tuck in its pointed wings as it descends into the water like a missile. They can do this from 100ft in the air and range speeds of 60mph, propelling them deeper into the water than other birds. Therefore, they can reach more fish than those just at the surface. This is a dangerous activity, and the birds must hit the water at just the right angle to avoid breaking their necks. They also have air sacs in their face and chest that act like airbags.

Bills

A lot of these birds have very different bills depending on their methods. The skimmers are out of proportion and perfect for fishing on the top of the ocean. Pelicans take this further with their big pouches to scoop up fish. However, the small Atlantic puffin can also handle many fish at once. It lines them up neatly with barbs on its tongue, taking as many back to the nest as possible.

Feet

When it comes to the feet, it helps if those surface divers are broad and webbed to handle the water better. Egrets, meanwhile, have bright yellow feet that move around in the water. There is debate over whether this is to disturb prey in the silt, act as an enticing lure, or both. Fish-eating hawks and eagles can rely on their powerful talons, with the osprey holding the fish straight ahead to remain aerodynamic.

Eyesight

The bird’s eyesight also plays a significant role in their chance of success. Birds that dive underwater need to be able to see what they are doing. They have a third nictitating eyelid that comes over and protects the eye while also allowing for as much visibility as possible. Many birds that hunt from above can also judge distance perfectly and correct for the refraction of the water to locate their prey.

Thieves

Hunting for fish is easy if you have the skills and the physical adaptations to succeed. Many birds here have evolved to become proficient at catching fish and provide a service for controlling population numbers. But, other species realize they can get a good meal by stealing fish rather than hunting for them.

Gull species will take what they can get that washes up on a shore. Eagles will even see if they can harass other birds – either younger eagles or osprey – into giving up their catch. The worst culprit in all of this is the parasitic jaeger. This is a kleptoparasite, meaning it will spend its time stealing the hard-earned catches of other birds. It is an easy way to save energy and get a good meal.

Puffins look cute and goofy but actually are extremely well adapted for survival in they cold north Atlantic Ocean. They aren’t that great at walking around and sort of have a hilarious waddle, but can fly at 90 kilometers per hour with their stubby little wings and also can use those same wings to dive more than 50 meters deep in the ocean.

Puffins are great at navigating and travel for thousands or miles during the course of the year. And then about five years after hatching always return to breed at to the site where they hatched. How the little cuties manage that is still a mystery.

Puffins can do a cool trick where they can hold several fish at one time with their huge breaks and still catch more without dropping the others. Makes each trip out to get food for their young far more efficient.

Puffins are funny looking birds but many of the characteristics that make them seem just so darn cute and loveable are really adaptations that allow them to survive in a very difficult and unforgiving environment.

As far as I know they are, and a quick Google search confirms it.

Blowfish:

Puffer fish:

Birds, and specialy fishing birds, have good eyes, an excellent anticipation, and although they still miss some catch.

Seagulls and affiliated catch fish diving from a high point, which allow them to sea through the water better.

Fishing eagles have good eyes, and are fast. They grab topwater fish in their claws.

Cormorans swim inside water to catch fish. Pelican dive and net fish in their pockets. They have a lot of ways.

Kingfisher have specialized optics system which polarized the reflection of water (if I remember well, kingfisher is our french martin pécheur, but if not, I’m speaking of french one…) and allows them to pick hidden fish under more than twice their size of water.

Fregates steal other birds fish.

Pinguins swim and dive against calamars and fish…

There are a lot of ways, I just pick some…

Have a nice day!

A piece of McDonald’s drinking straw and a bobber make a very effective fishing rig for Spanish Mackerel and other saltwater fish.

Mackerel rig | Fishn Riggs, charts, lures | Pinterest | Fish, Fishing rigs and Rigs

It seems I’ve always loved to fish, since I was a young child, I’d come home from school , want to go fishing and not have any money for bait and grab a bar of Ivory soap, cut me a piece off when I would get to the river, put the rest back in my pocket. It floats or you can put a lead sinker and fish near the bottom or near some cover we called the stick ups, which were old hardwood tree’s that were still there after they put in dams and locks, 60 years before, but where now underwater. The tops of the tree’s had been knocked off and you could barely see them, some stick ups where just under the water, some where above, you had to know where most where or you would hit one. It wasn’t a problem with me, hitting one because I was paddling in an old flat boat, usually with a friend. We would get where we intended to go pull out our big cane poles, cut a piece of soap, put the hook in it good and we were now fishing. We caught Bream, Catfish, Carp and every now and again a accidental Bass or Crappie. We made top baits, by pulling back slowly with the cane pole, with no weight, it wasn’t fancy but we got lucky. Most of the time we would put a weight on it and fish off the bank or the boat in shallower water and catch bream when they were on the beds, I think now the bream were probably were moving it out of there beds, but the catfish took it all the time. That was more fun, I was always on the river or in a creek trying too catch some kind of creature. I was always good to them, so there would be some for next time.

I can’t get too detailed on this. But from what I’ve learned birds have a different visual perspective of the world than we do.

You know when we look down on water we tend to get a surface reflection. Birds, at least those that prey on fish have the ability to see much further down than us

Similar to how a hawk can spot a field mouse from hundreds of feet in the air.

Eagles and others will spot a fish, swoop down and grab it with its talons. There are other birds, like Gannets that are known as plunge divers and will dive down into the water to catch their prey by mouth.

And let’s not forget about penguins. These birds swim like fish and have no problem overtaking them.

Puffins lay one egg per year usually with the same mate. They are incredible, interesting birds. Know as the “ Sea Parrot”, the hatchling is known as a “puffling” and currently, their populations are compromised due to the effects of climate change. The Atlantic Puffins winter at sea, coming in to rocky north Atlantic cliffs to breed. It is a long lived bird with a lifespan of approximately thirty years. I was privileged on several occasions to observe the breeding colony on Machias Seal Island of the coast of Maine with Barna Norton and his son John who facilitated tours of the island.