Lunde

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Lunde
Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

Atlantic Puffin ( Fratercula arctica )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Plover-like (Charadriiformes)
Family : Alkenbirds (Alcidae)
Genre : Lunde
Scientific name
Fratercula
Brisson , 1760

Lunde ( Fratercula ) are a genus from the family of the alkenvogel . The genus includes three recent species that are widespread in the northern hemisphere and one that is extinct. They are marine birds that feed primarily by diving for fish. They breed in large colonies on cliffs or on islands near the coast, nest in crevices under rocks or in caves in the ground. The Hornlund and Gelbschopflund live in the northern Pacific , whereas the puffin occurs exclusively in the northern Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean .

features

The species of the genus Fratercula have a stocky build, short wings that are suitable for swimming underwater, and a short tail. The plumage is predominantly black or black and white, the underside of the trunk completely white. The beak is thick in relation to the body size. The beak, roughly triangular in profile, is massive but narrow. In the basal part it shows a covering made up of several ornamental horns that are missing in the plain dress . The distal half is bright red or orange, but paler after the breeding season.

Although the Fratercula alks make a particularly large number of vocalizations at their breeding sites, they are calm when they fly over the water. Compared to other alks, which fly about 1.6 m above water, the Fratercula alks fly relatively high with an altitude above water of about 10 m. In the air, they can flap their wings up to 400 times per minute and thus reach a speed of almost 90 km / h.

Systematics and distribution

The following three recent species belong to the Lunde genus :

German name Scientific name distribution Hazard level
Red List of IUCN 		Remarks image
Puffin Fratercula arctica
( Linnaeus , 1758) 		Distribution area of ​​the puffin VU IUCN 3 1st svg( Vulnerable - endangered) monotypical
body length: 32 cm, wingspan: 53 cm, weight: 380 g
Lives on coasts and especially islands of the northern Atlantic and the western polar sea . It breeds from Labrador to Maine and Greenland . The southernmost breeding colonies in the western Atlantic are in the Gulf of Maine , the northernmost on Coburg Island in Baffin Bay . In Europe, the species breeds on Iceland and Nowaja Zemlya , along the Murman coast to southern Norway and on the Faroe Islands . There is also a colony on Coquet Island on the east coast of England. 		Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica)
Hornlund Fratercula corniculata
( Naumann , 1821) 		Distribution area of ​​the Hornlund LC IUCN 3 1st svg( Least Concern - not at risk) monotypical
body length: 38 cm, wingspan: 58 cm, weight: 620 g
On the coast of North America it breeds from British Columbia via southeast Alaska , Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands to Rat Island . Breeding colonies are located on the Pribilof Islands , Hall Island and along the coast of the Seward Peninsula and on the Chukchi Peninsula . 		Hornlund (Fratercula corniculata)
Yellow cup Fratercula cirrhata
( Pallas , 1769) 		Distribution area of ​​the Gelbschopflund LC IUCN 3 1st svg( Least Concern - not at risk) monotypical
body length: 40 cm, wingspan: 63 cm, weight: 780 g.
Its distribution area extends from Big Sur on the California coast to Hokkaidō . It is found numerous only in the region from British Columbia to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk . Breeding colonies are particularly numerous on islands off the Alaska Peninsula , the Aleutian Islands and the Kuriles, and in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. 		Yellowcap (Fratercula cirrhata)

nutrition

Puffin with a stuffed beak

Like the majority of the alks, the Fratercula alks feed on fish and zooplankton , but mainly feed their nestlings with small fish several times a day. The prey includes sand eels , herrings , capelin and schooling fish that can be reached during the day. More rarely, however, cuttlefish or various species of cod , especially pollack , cod and whiting . In the Arctic Ocean, many bristles and crustaceans are regularly fed to the nestlings in addition to fish. In addition, many bristles and crustaceans can play an important role in nutrition in the winter months .

The search for food is done while diving, the forward movement under water is done with the wings. They carry the caught fish across their beak by pressing their tongue against the upper beak until the entire length of the beak is filled with fish.

Reproduction

All three Fratercula species breed in large colonies and cliffs, crevices under rocks or self-made caves. Some former or current breeding sites are called "Puffin Island", for example Lundey in Iceland . While the caves of puffins and hornlunds are around 75 cm to 1.5 m long, yellow-capped pods dig their caves up to 3 m.

The nest is built by the male. Breeding pairs defend their nest cavity and the male defends his partner. Aggressive behavior includes a threatening posture in which the body is almost horizontal to the floor, the neck is stretched wide and the head is lowered. Aggressive acts include persecuting one another, grasping the beak or feathers on the head or neck.

The egg is incubated by both parent birds. The incubation period is between 35 and 45 days. The feed is held in front of the nestlings or dropped in the nest cavity. In contrast to all other members of the Alcidae family, the nestlings find food on the ground even in the dark. For this purpose, the nestlings scan the ground in their environment with their beak as soon as they have dried after hatching.

After the breeding season, the Fratercula alks often hibernate far away from the coast and often south of the breeding site.

Existence and endangerment

BirdLife International estimates the population of puffins in Europe for 1990–2003 as 5.7–7.3 million pairs. Iceland has by far the largest population with 3.0–4.0 million pairs. Large populations also live in Norway with 1.5–2.0 million pairs, in Great Britain with 621,000 and in the Faroe Islands with 550,000 pairs.

In Iceland and the Faroe Islands, puffins are widely caught and eaten by the local population. Around 270,000 birds were caught annually in the Faroe Islands at the beginning of the 20th century; in the 1970s it was still around 100,000 per year. The majority of the captured animals are young birds, so the influence on the population size is apparently very small, at least in vital colonies. In contrast, the decline in populations on islands off the Breton coast , in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and in the Gulf of Maine is attributed to overuse of the breeding colonies by humans.

The population of the Hornlunde is estimated at 1.2 million breeding birds. About 62% of the world population breed on islands off the Alaska Peninsula . About 16% of the global population breed in the Sea of Okhotsk . The largest Asian colony is located on the Talan Island in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, where about 100,000 to 120,000 breeding birds are counted. The largest concentration of around 350,000 breeding birds is on the Semidi Islands .

In the area between Akutan Island and Unimak Island live between 800,000 and 1 million yellow-capped pods. The largest colony of this species is located on Egg Island with 163,000 breeding birds. The largest Asian colony is on the Commander Islands with more than 20,000 breeding birds and on Talan Island with 80,000 breeding birds. The cause of the population decline on various breeding islands is drowning in fishing nets, introduced predators and human disturbance.

References

literature

  • Anthony J. Gaston, Ian L. Jones: The Auks (= Bird Families of the World. Vol. 4 (recte 5)). Oxford University Press, Oxford u. a. 1998, ISBN 0-19-854032-9 .
  • Peter Harrison: Seabirds. An Identification Guide. Revised edition, reprinted. Christopher Helm, London 1988, ISBN 0-7470-1410-8 .
  • David Sibley: The North American Bird Guide. Pica Press, Robertsbridge 2000, ISBN 1-873403-98-4 .

Web links

Commons : Lunde ( Fratercula )  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Harrison: Seabirds. 1988, pp. 404-406.
  2. ^ Sibley: The North American Bird Guide. 2000, pp. 252-253.
  3. ↑ 26 Questions about Puffins. (No longer available online.) National Audubon Society, archived from the original on August 29, 2012 ; Retrieved July 10, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.projectpuffin.org
  4. ↑ Fratercula arctica in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.3. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  5. ^ Gaston et al .: The Auks. 1998, p. 284.
  6. ↑ Fratercula corniculata in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.3. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  7. ↑ Harrison: Seabirds. 1988, p. 405.
  8. ↑ Fratercula cirrhata in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.3. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  9. ↑ a b Gaston et al .: The Auks. 1998, p. 299.
  10. ^ Shauna Baillie and Ian Jones: Response of Atlantic Puffins to a Decline in Capel in Abundance at the Gannet Islands, Labrador. (PDF, 1,650 kB) Memorial University of Newfoundland, p. 1 , accessed on July 11, 2012 .
  11. ^ Gaston et al .: The Auks. 1998, p. 302.
  12. ^ Gaston et al .: The Auks. 1998, p. 297.
  13. ↑ Detailed species account from Birds in Europe: Fratercula arctica. (PDF, 254 kB) BirdLife International, accessed on July 11, 2012 .
  14. ^ Gaston et al .: The Auks. 1998, p. 286.
  15. ^ Gaston et al .: The Auks. 1998, p. 296.
  16. ^ Gaston et al .: The Auks. 1998, p. 301.