Puffin chicks 'starving to death' (BBC) {climate change to blame?}

[eppur_se_muova]

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Sarah Money, the NTS seabird ranger on the islands, said puffins were struggling to find their normal food of nutritious and oil rich sand eels, young herring or sprats.

She said: "The chicks are just dying of starvation, with hundreds of emaciated bodies lying around outside the burrows.

"Since July, the parents have been bringing back mainly pipefish, which the chicks can't swallow. Many of the burrows contain piles of uneaten, rotting pipefish."

She added: "Before 2001, snake pipefish were rarely seen in Scottish waters but have been becoming increasingly common in recent years.

"It is feared that this is another symptom of climate change as they are a southern species that have been extending their range northwards."
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6933378.stm