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Fake it till they flock it: Why plastic puffins are a hit

Two puffins are standing on a rock both looking to the right, with unbroken blue skies. The puffin on the left is plastic, while the puffin on the right is real. The two look remarkably alike. Keirron Tastagh, Adventurous Experiences

Puffin ventured, puffin gained. Can you spot the plastic imposter?

Conservations have been working for the past 10 years to bring back puffins to a tiny island in the Irish sea.

On the little uninhabited island, Calf of Man, three puffin colonies can now be seen.

But not all the puffins are what they seem...

Some of the birds are actually plastic immitations - read on to find out why they're there.

A green field with small pink flowers, with decoy puffins scattered around the area, and a rocky coastline beyond. There is a calm sea and cloudy sky on a bright day.

Fake plastic puffins have been put in place on the island to trick real puffins into thinking the island is already a safe nesting place.

This encourages the stripe-beaked birds to settle there, too.

The Manx Wildlife Trust, which runs the project, says the plan seems to be working.

They have spotted real puffins near the decoys and even seen birds collecting materials for nests.

How does the plastic puffin project work?

There are two realistic-looking black and white plastic puffins with orange beaks and feet, sitting in a grassy area with small pink flowers. There is a rocky coastline beyond with yellow moss on the stone. The sea in the distance on the left is calm on a bright day.

The plastic puffin colonies have been built up over the past 10 years.

The idea is to lure real, living, breathing feathered puffins back to the island.

As puffins are highly social birds and prefer to nest in busy colonies, natural recolonisation - or building up a puffin neighbourhood - can be slow.

So, these plastic birds can speed up the process.

A grey metal speaker in a green field, with sporadic rocks, and blurred puffins scattered in the background. the sea is in the distance.

As well as the plastic birds a speaker system has been set-up among the colonies, which plays the sounds of puffin calls.

"If they're flying past and don't see anything, they might miss it, but they'll hear the calls, come closer, see the decoys and think, 'this is a great place'," said MWT's marine conservation officer Lara Howe.

"We are seeing increased numbers of puffins on the water and around the Calf which is really positive."