The puffin is a pelagic species of auk which spends its winter in the middle of the Atlantic and North Sea, where it is vulnerable to oil spills and bioaccumulation of heavy metals.

We don't know where this bird spent the winter or where it exactly died because it would have been brought to the coast on the oceanic currents.
View Puffin EW81339 in a larger map
We hope to hear again from the finders if they discover the cause of death after the postmortem.
Thank you to Marco García for sharing the story and to José Antonio Larriba for the photographs.
I have found a dead puffin at Bishops Quarters beach, Co Clare, Rep. Ireland, may 31st 2011. On Close inspection it was densely covered with ticks, around the beak area, I have photos if you need them. It was not ringed.
ReplyDeleteYes please. Send them to recoveries@bto.org.
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