A new project will be launched this summer to help save one of Scotland’s most colourful and charismatic seabirds.
Puffins, renowned for their brightly coloured bills and comical behaviour, are among the UK’s favourite species.
However, in recent years, their numbers have plummeted, sparking fears over their future survival.
However, an RSPB Scotland initiative to help preserve puffins has been created, following a £49,800 award from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Project Puffin (UK) will combine the latest technology with citizen science to discover more about what the birds feed their chicks, where they go to search for food and how their numbers are changing.
With more than 80% of the British and Irish population of puffins, Scotland will be the focus of much of the work.
Counts will take place at puffin colonies, which have seen an alarming reduction in size.
GPS trackers will be fitted to 31 puffins at two sites in Scotland in a bid to discover where the peripatetic birds go to fish to feed their chick.
Meanwhile, visitors to puffin colonies are being asked to take photographs of the birds with fish in their bills to gain further information about their diet during the breeding season in June and July.
Ellie Owen, who leads the RSPB’s seabird tracking work across the UK, said the organisation was “immensely grateful” to the HLF for funding the “vital work”.
She added: “Puffins are wonderful birds in desperate need of help to ensure the long-term survival of the species.
“Across the country, there is great affection for these birds and this project will give people the chance to get involved with the work being done to save them.”
Warming seas, affecting puffins’ food sources, are thought to be one of the main threats to their numbers.
Ms Owen added: “In the future, we expect the project data will advise government on the best ways to protect puffins.
“It’s devastating to think our coastlines may no longer be brightened up by these birds coming in to land, flapping their wings with their orange legs outstretched.”
Lucy Casot, Head of HLF Scotland, said: “We are delighted to support Project Puffin, which will stimulate people’s interest in the natural world and help them conserve it for future generations.”
