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Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica mortality along the Portuguese west coast in early 2023.


Authors

RUTE A. COSTA1,2, ANA S. TAVARES2,3, FRANCISCA V. HILÁRIO2, JORGE VAQUEIRO2, MARISA FERREIRA3, SARA SÁ1,2,3, SILVIA S. MONTEIRO1,2, ANDREIA TORRES-PEREIRA2,3, & CATARINA EIRA1,2
1 Center for Environmental and Marine Studies (Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, CESAM), Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Portugal
2 Department of Biology & Ecomare Marine Animal Rehabilitation Centre (Centro de Reabilitação de Animais Marinhos, CRAM), Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal (rute.costa@ua.pt)
3 Portuguese Wildlife Society (SPVS), Estação de Campo de Quiaios, Portugal

Citation

Costa, R. A., Tavares, A. S., Hilário, F. V., Vaqueiro, J., Ferreira, M., Sá, S., Monteiro, S. S., Torres-Pereira, A., & Eira, C. (2026). Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica mortality along the Portuguese west coast in early 2023. Marine Ornithology, 54(1), 21-28.
http://doi.org/10.5038/2074-1235.54.1.1674

Received 20 June 2025, accepted 19 August 2025

Date Published: 2026/04/15
Date Online: 2026/03/22
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Key words: biometrics, extreme weather, Fratercula arctica, puffin mortality, strandings, rehabilitation

Abstract

This study presents data about a mortality event involving Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica in the central region of Portugal, including information on the species' biometrics. More than 2,000 seabirds were collected from beaches between Lisbon and Matosinhos in January and February 2023, as casualties of a massive wreck. In total 444 Atlantic Puffins (171 live, 273 dead) were found and analysed. Leg bands on some birds indicated that these individuals primarily originated from colonies in Scotland. Of the live puffins that entered the Ecomare Marine Animal Rehabilitation Centre, only 18 survived to be successfully released. We conducted 426 post-mortem examinations and collected 271 individual photographs to analyse wing feather condition. Most of the birds were emaciated adult females, with significantly low-fat deposits, presumably having starved to death following extreme weather and ocean conditions. This study also revealed significant differences in wing length and bill depth among various age and sex categories, with adults having larger measurements than younger birds. Further long-term studies are necessary to assess the significance of mortality from this kind of extreme event on population levels.

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Volumes > 38 (2010-->)

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