Do Puffins regurgitate fish to feed young??

[LukasB]

Hi

Thanks everyone who helped me find that type of bird in the previous thread. Now I wanted to ask you this little question which I cannot to come to a conclusion. I have been interested for some time about Puffins and if they are able to regurgitate fish to feed their young. I found so far a lot of conflicting evidence:

Here is what some people are saying and some books which claim that Puffins can regurgitate fish, like penguins:

They used their yet extremely small and slender bills with great courage and pertinacity, and their cries resembled the wailings of young whelps. The smaller individuals were fed by the parents by regurgitation, or received little pieces of fish which were placed in their mouths; the larger picked up the fish that were dropped before them; but almost all of them seemed to crawl to the entrance of the holes for the purpose of being fed.

Source link: Audubon Centennial Edition - The Birds of America - Atlantic Puffin

Here is another:

Tufted Puffins eat squids, mollusks, crustaceans, and small fish. They may regurgitate food to their young, but most bring them live fish to eat. The Atlantic Puffin eats zooplankton and fish like cod and haddock.

Source link: What kind of fish do puffins eat? | GreenAnswers

Another one:

Puffins make good brood parents and form long term bonds with their mate. The female lays a single egg in the first half of May and incubation will take about six weeks. Both parents incubate the egg but will often leave it unattended during the day.

The chicks is covered with a thick, soft buff-brown down and it is fed by both parents with regurgitated partly digested fish. As the chick grows, the parents will bring whole fish for the chick to eat and the parent will often be seen carrying several at a time , crosswise in the bill.

Source link: Bird Facts Puffin by Jane Allyson | Critters 360

Feeding The Young
One of the most astounding things about Alcids is that they feed their young whole fish. Most seabirds depend upon regurgitating food from their stomachs. Alcids also feed regugitated food at times.

Source link: Puffin

Here is also something like that:

Some seabirds swallow and regurgitate food to their chick, but most alcids bring the fish to their young intact, clasped in their beaks.

Source link: Puffin

However the problem is that when I researched deeper this came out:

puffins feed their chicks whole prey...do not regurgitate stored food

Source link: https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v090n02/p0446-p0452.pdf
on page 3

Wikipedia did not give more answers to this puzzle:

The puffins are distinct in their ability to hold several (sometimes over a dozen) small fish at a time, crosswise in their bill, rather than regurgitating swallowed fish.

Source link: Puffin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So my question is if here is someone who knows something about Puffins if he could tell me what is the truth. Do Puffins regurgitate from time to time to feed its young or its not true and those who claim that are wrong?

Thanks for reading this. I wish you a nice day.

 

[waterfaller1]

I have a doubt anyone here would be able to correctly answer this question unless they have spent time with them in their own environment or in a zoo perhaps. Poor fishies!

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Yes. Puffins regurgitate intact, whole fish from their crop to feed to their nestlings. I have seen them do it on animal specials and also have seen courting males do it for the hens at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

 

[LukasB]

Thanks a lot Laurul Feather Cat. Thanks a lot.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

It is neat to watch the Puffins flying back to the rocky cliffs with four or five whole fishes hanging out of their beaks. Then the mom or dad shifts around trying to get a fish into each youngster's mouth. It is neat to watch them do that. What is even funnier is watching a young cock bird, a yearling, walking round and round the group with a fish danging from his bill, hoping to find a hen who will take his fish and pair up with him. Reminds me of those junior high school dances and the stripling young men being too shy to go up and ask a girl for a dance. Puffins allow their fish to attract the mate!

 

[LukasB]

Thanks for the additional info.

Can I ask you Laural Feather Cat if you do not remember the animal specials names example what episode it was or so if not no problem. I am just asking because I am curious about these birds and would like to see it. I like them also like Penguins.

Thanks for your time so far and I wish you a nice day.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

The one I remember most clearly was a special on the sea birds and they were talking about the Orkney Islands. I watch so much natural history I cannot remember any specific titles. I remember one really interesting piece about Puffins that was narrated by David Attenboro. It had to do with some of the islands off the coast of the Orkneys which were protected breeding areas. It may have been one of the Living Planet series. I think Attenboro also did a special about birds as well.

 

[LukasB]

Thanks found the one with David Attenborough called Wildlife On One Punk Puffins And Hard Rock. Sadly this one does not mention regurgitation in the Puffin specie so it had to be another documentary you saw. This one had only some of the basics said in it. It seems that Puffins do regurgitation only from time to time when it is really needed:

David Attenborough: Wildlife On One: Punk Puffins And Hard Rock 6of57 PART 1 - YouTube

David Attenborough: Wildlife On One: Punk Puffins And Hard Rock 6of57 PART 2 - YouTube

However thanks for the document it was not bad at all.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

They prefer to feed whole fish. But they will regurg if they are sitting on the nest and the other parent is late getting back.

 

[LukasB]

Thanks for clearing this up. I am also looking into Triton Cockatoos because I am planning to buy one and what I read it seems that every scientists has different knowledge from what he has observed. For example some behavior like courtship feeding was not observed by one author in the wild so he concluded that it does not occur in Triton cockatoos but in captive species it was observed or by other authors who later on observed this. Really it seems to get a real answer a person must read a lot about it because sometimes there are conflicting sides. Thanks again for clearing this up..

I wish you a nice day.