Avians in aviators

Bespoke protective ‘sunglasses’ designed for puffins helped researchers demonstrate the birds’ bills fluoresce in ultraviolet (UV) light.

The Atlantic puffin’s bill photoluminescence was first observed in specimens which had ceased to be, but to investigate it in live animals, scientists at Goldsmiths, University of London had to protect the birds’ eyes from UV light sources. Dean Brown, a Goldsmiths researcher who designed the opaque spectacles, said, “The development of the sunglasses was a purely user-driven design process – the unusual thing was that the user in this case was a puffin.”

Avians in aviators-puffin-glowing-bill-goldsmiths-university-of-london.jpg

Avians in aviators-puffin-sunglasses-goldsmiths-university-of-london.jpg — An ex-puffin showing bill photoluminescence and a drawing of the special designed avian protective specs

Credit: Goldsmiths, University of London

After assessing puffin metrics and discussions with ornithologists, the team created laser-cut mock-ups, which they trialled on ex-puffins to ensure the designs were suitable before creating their ready-to-wear range. Brown said they settled on a simple nose-resting design, making the glasses quick and unobtrusive to fit over the puffin’s bill, with a brightly coloured nose piece. “The end result was light-weight, completely light absorbent and could bend to accommodate different bill and head sizes,” he said.

Jamie Dunning, who was studying at Nottingham’s School of Life Sciences for his master’s when he made the discovery about the puffin’s fluorescent bills, and is now at Imperial College London, said, “We aren’t really sure why puffins need this trait. However, we expect they can detect it and we suspect that it is linked to sexual signalling, feeding young in their burrows or perhaps even capturing prey. We will be working on these questions in the future.”