Puffins on the Cliffs: Word Parts

Puffins on the Cliffs

1Puffins are small seabirds with black and white feathers. During nesting season, their beaks become bright and colorful. Because of these unusual beaks, some people call puffins the clowns of the sea.

2Puffins spend most of the year far out at sea. In spring, they fly back to rocky islands to nest. Many puffins return to the same burrow and reuse it year after year. If a burrow has fallen in, a pair may rebuild it by digging with their beaks and feet.

3A puffin is a skillful swimmer. It dives underwater and flaps its wings to move, almost as if it were flying. It can catch several small fish in one dive and hold them all in its beak at the same time.

4A puffin chick, called a puffling, hatches inside the burrow. At first the puffling is helpless. It cannot fly or find food, so its parents bring fish to it many times a day.

5Landing on a cliff can be tricky for a puffin. Its wings are short, so it sometimes lands in an untidy tumble. Out over the sea, though, puffins are tireless fliers, flapping their wings very quickly.