Solving the puffin 'housing crisis'

Thursday 19 March 2020

If you think it's tough finding a home in Jersey... spare a thought for Jersey's four pairs of endangered puffins.

Amid struggles to find an adequate area to settle, the Birds on the Edge Project has stepped in to help them and has been working on the north coast to restore their breeding sites.

A total of 17 puffin nest boxes have been buried in the cliffs of Jersey's north coast as part of a wider project aimed at improving the habitat and breeding opportunities for the small population.

There are currently only four pairs of puffins in Jersey and so the artificial burrows attempt to imitate a natural puffin burrow in which they can successfully breed.

Pictured: The artificial burrows have an entrance tunnel which leads to a larger underground chamber.

The installation has been a collaboration between Birds On The Edge and Geomarine Jersey, who sent their 'rope team' to assist the rangers of the National Trust and the Environment Department.

The rope team were able to install the artificial burrows in an otherwise inaccessible cliff.

Cristina Sellarés, Birds On The Edge project officer, explained: “We have installed the artificial burrows to ensure that the population can increase in a safe breeding environment, as part of a wider project aimed at improving seabird habitats in Jersey. Geomarine’s help was crucial to access this particular cliff, where we hope new puffin pairs will find the burrows to their requirements." 

Pictured: Geomarine's rope team were needed to access a particularly treacherous cliff.

Puffin burrows are a vital necessity as the breeding pair return to the same burrow each year and the female only lays a single egg each time.

This egg is then defended and incubated by both parents, who also share feeding duties of the young 'puffling' once it is born.

Puffins reach breeding age at five to six years and can live for up to 20 years.

Between April and June, Puffins can be sighted in Jersey from the north coast footpaths.

They are often seen floating in the water alongside other seabirds including Razorbills, Fulmars and Gulls.