September 9, 2024, 8:50 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Every year, locals throw puffin chicks off the cliffs for a few weeks at the end of summer! The animals are the symbol of Iceland. Read why this bizarre tradition is important for the conservation of the species.
Year after year, a now cherished tradition takes place on the Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands). In August and September, several hundred young puffins are thrown off the cliffs of the small islands that belong to Iceland! However, this annual phenomenon is not a form of animal cruelty for amusement but rather has a significant conservation purpose.
Young puffins in Iceland get lost during fledging
Puffins are so closely associated with Iceland that they are even the heraldic animal of the island state. It is, therefore, not surprising that local people want to help the animals a little when they fledge and get lost on their way to the sea.
This phenomenon occurs more frequently. Young puffins are fed by their parents during the spring and summer. They set off on a year-long journey through the ocean at the end of the summer. This period, also known as “puffling season,” sometimes falls in August or September. This depends on how plentiful the young birds’ food supply was during their time in the nest. 1
However, light pollution is making it increasingly difficult for the young birds to find their way to the sea. Some make their way to the harbor or the city instead of the cliffs, mistaking the light of the streetlights for that of the stars. Then, the puffling patrol goes on a nightly collection mission.
Puffins require assistance to take the plunge from the cliffs
The volunteers then carry the animals to the cliffs, from where they are gently released into the air. Some rescuers also place the puffins on the cliff’s edge, and the animals jump off on their own. This corresponds to the natural behavior of the almost adult birds, which usually glide down the cliffs with their parents and try out their wings. 2
The rescuers of the puffins significantly contribute to the conservation of the species, as the birds only lay a single egg every few years. They are also severely affected by climate change, bird flu, and overfishing of the seas. Only on the Westman Islands is their population still stable. In the southwest of the archipelago and in Alaska, the streams of fish on which they feed are increasingly absent. If there is not enough food, they do not breed. 3
Puffins always return to the place where they were born and then breed the next generation on the steep slopes of the cliffs. The young animals rescued year after year can, therefore, stabilize and maintain the species’ population in the long term.
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No long-term solution in sight
Unfortunately, there do not seem to be many long-term solutions to prevent puffins from getting lost. For example, it is practically impossible to minimize the light problem, says Snær Hansen, Director of Ecological Research at the South Iceland Nature Centre, in an article in the popular science magazine “PopularScience.”
Even smaller metropolitan areas pose a problem for puffins. This is because, as Hansen points out, even the wrong light is enough to lure the birds in the wrong direction. There have been some studies on whether warm light could mislead the animals less. But so far, researchers have not been able to provide any concrete proof of this.
Therefore, until a long-term solution is found, volunteers in Iceland continue to be invaluable in ensuring the survival and well-being of these puffin chicks, guiding them from the cliffs to the sea in accordance with their natural instincts.