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Coquet Island puffin-cams reveal birds' burrow lives

RSPB Puffins on webcamRSPB
The webcam shows inside the puffins' underground burrow on Coquet Island

Bird lovers can now get a glimpse of a pair of puffins' underground home life in real time.

A webcam has been installed in the nest of the couple on Coquet Island, off the Northumberland coast.

The birds, which make nests in burrows in the sandy soil, mate for life and both the male and female help to incubate the egg and raise the chick.

Viewers can watch them on parenting duty until it fledges and they all leave the island in July or August.

John Bowler/RSPB PuffinsJohn Bowler/RSPB
Puffins spend two-thirds of their lives bobbing on the ocean and only come to land to breed

Puffins are often nicknamed "sea parrots" or "clowns of the sea" due to their mannerisms and colourful beaks and the birds build their nests in burrows in the sandy soil.

The UK holds about 10% of the world's puffins, but numbers are declining, and they are now on the Red List of UK Birds of Conservation Concern.

Coquet Island, which has been an RSPB nature reserve since 1970, is a breeding ground for thousands of them and is also the sole roseate tern breeding colony in the UK.

David Wooton/RSPB Coquet IslandDavid Wooton/RSPB
Visitors are not allowed on the island but can view it from off shore on boat trips
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