![]() The birds had one of their most productive seasons for mating pairs in years in 2019. The population of the birds, which are on Maine's state threatened species list, has been stable in recent years. The discouraging news comes after positive signs in recent years despite the challenging environmental conditions. Far fewer chicks fledged than need to to stabilize the population. ![]() ![]() This year's warm summer was bad for Maine's beloved puffins. In this July 19, 2019, file photo, research assistant Andreinna Alvarez, of Ecuador, holds a puffin chick before weighing and banding the bird on Eastern Egg Rock, a small island off the coast of Maine. Researchers have not seen much mortality of adult puffins, but the population will suffer if the birds continue to have difficulty raising chicks, Lyons said. The islands where puffins nest are located in the Gulf of Maine, a body of water that is warming faster than the vast majority of the world's oceans. "There were fewer fish for puffins to catch, and the ones they were able to were not ideal for chicks," Lyons said. The birds had a poor year because of warm ocean temperatures this summer that reduced the availability of the fish the chicks need to survive, he said. The puffin colonies have suffered only one or two less productive years in the four decades since their populations were restored in Maine, Lyons said. About two-thirds of the birds succeed in a normal year, he said. Only about a quarter of the birds were able to raise chicks this summer, said Don Lyons, director of conservation science for the National Audubon Society's Seabird Institute in Bremen, Maine. There are about 1,500 breeding pairs in the state and they are dependent on fish such as herring and sand lance to be able to feed their young. Puffins are seabirds with colorful beaks that nest on four small islands off the coast of Maine.
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