An Icelandic Town Goes All Out to Save Baby Puffins
March 18, 2023 8:08 PM Subscribe
An Icelandic Town Goes All Out to Save Baby Puffins. Kids and senior citizens alike rally to rescue beloved young seabirds that have lost their bearings.
Night patrol on the puffling patrol / kids that want to make sure the puffins get home
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:31 PM on March 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:31 PM on March 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Fuck yeah puffins
posted by awfurby at 12:45 AM on March 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by awfurby at 12:45 AM on March 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
The pictures in this article are the cutest ever. I approve!
posted by puffyn at 6:06 AM on March 19, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by puffyn at 6:06 AM on March 19, 2023 [6 favorites]
The species’ scientific name, Fratercula arctica …
Puffinus puffinus is not the puffin but the shearwater, due to some ancient confusion.
posted by Phanx at 6:11 AM on March 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Puffinus puffinus is not the puffin but the shearwater, due to some ancient confusion.
posted by Phanx at 6:11 AM on March 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
According to my Peterson Field Guide, in french Puffinus puffinus is Puffin des Anglais.
If we're on the naming of parts, over on the Faroes: "Similarly, the once ubiquitous puffin is known by the handbook as lundi, the closest to a general name for the adult bird. Historically, however, lundi refers primarily to the bird when cooked and stuffed with cake batter. A migratory puffin, by contrast, was called klædseksdrongur, or “luggage boy” (because it announced the arrival of the larger arctic skua) and a puffin in winter plumage was a høganevið, while a young bird was a vangagrái and a young bird “fallen on the field or into a river” was an áarpisa—finally, an old non-breeding puffin was known as karkarakkur, on account of its long, curved outside claws, a danger to fowlers."
posted by BobTheScientist at 8:37 AM on March 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
If we're on the naming of parts, over on the Faroes: "Similarly, the once ubiquitous puffin is known by the handbook as lundi, the closest to a general name for the adult bird. Historically, however, lundi refers primarily to the bird when cooked and stuffed with cake batter. A migratory puffin, by contrast, was called klædseksdrongur, or “luggage boy” (because it announced the arrival of the larger arctic skua) and a puffin in winter plumage was a høganevið, while a young bird was a vangagrái and a young bird “fallen on the field or into a river” was an áarpisa—finally, an old non-breeding puffin was known as karkarakkur, on account of its long, curved outside claws, a danger to fowlers."
posted by BobTheScientist at 8:37 AM on March 19, 2023 [4 favorites]
welp I'm off to Iceland to fondle squeeeee adorable lost little squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee baby puffins squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
posted by supermedusa at 10:26 AM on March 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by supermedusa at 10:26 AM on March 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Heimaey is one of the most charming places i've ever been. I took my son to Iceland when he was 8, and we put Vestmannaeyjar on our list of places to visit because of this story and the book. It wasn't puffling season, but the local hotsprings pool was outstanding so we spent some time there. He was invited to join the local elementary school swim class once they had determined he was a strong swimmer.
We walked all over the island, and in late spring felt like we had the place to ourselves . It was a highlight of our trip.
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:34 AM on March 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
We walked all over the island, and in late spring felt like we had the place to ourselves . It was a highlight of our trip.
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:34 AM on March 19, 2023 [8 favorites]
I was just there last summer. Besides puffins, the town is known for having been partly destroyed in a volcanic eruption in the 1970s, and for a big youth music festival that they were just setting up for during my visit, which many Icelanders I met recalled going to in their youths. I took a boat tour around the island, which was mostly amazing but the operators made the questionable decision to blast the Game of Thrones soundtrack during some dramatic moments (like, c'mon, at least play "The Rains of Castamere" on a lute if you're really going to go for it). The tour was still useful in that its leader taught us how to spot puffins from the way they fly - they almost never glide but rather beat their wings continuously the entire time they are in flight, so you can pick them out from a long ways away.
posted by whir at 10:01 AM on March 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by whir at 10:01 AM on March 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
What a lovely thing. "Why do you do it?" I asked them. Baby puffins needing help? Why wouldn't you do it?!
Puffins are lundi in Icelandic
... ah! And now I know how Lundy Island, off the north shore of Devon, got its name!
I've never seen puffins in the wild, but guillemots fly with the same frantic fast wingbeat - and look confusingly like penguins when they land and you get your first good look at them. (Also - eponysterical, whir!)
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 10:48 AM on March 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Puffins are lundi in Icelandic
... ah! And now I know how Lundy Island, off the north shore of Devon, got its name!
I've never seen puffins in the wild, but guillemots fly with the same frantic fast wingbeat - and look confusingly like penguins when they land and you get your first good look at them. (Also - eponysterical, whir!)
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 10:48 AM on March 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by salishsea at 9:07 PM on March 18, 2023 [4 favorites]