Auks · Shorebirds

Atlantic Puffin

Fratercula arctica

How to recognize it

Body length 28–30 cm
Black crown and back, white underside, large pale grey cheek patches
Broad red-and-black bill and orange feet in adults during the breeding season
Flies low over the sea, usually about 10 m above the water

About the species

In spring, the Atlantic puffin’s black head and back frame a white underside, with pale grey patches on the cheeks. Its broad bill is red at the tip and slate-grey near the face, with a yellow ridge between; orange legs show beneath it. After breeding, the bill and facial colors fade during the winter moult.

At sea, it paddles with webbed feet and dives by beating its wings, sometimes surfacing with several small fish lined up in its bill. In flight, its call sounds like a soft purr. Inside its burrow, it gives a low growl, and a startled puffin can send the colony circling into the air.

Its breeding colonies are on grassy coastal cliffs and islands, where it digs or reuses a burrow. It spends autumn and winter at sea, returning to the coast in spring. Fish make up most of its diet, with shrimp and other crustaceans also taken, especially in coastal waters.

Where to find

In spring, before returning to their nests, Atlantic Puffins gather in small groups offshore for a few days — scan the water from shore for bobbing shapes.
In late spring, on grassy slopes above the cliff edge, watch arrivals from the sea make several circuits over the colony before landing.
In the evening on the colony's grassy slopes, look for silhouettes by burrow entrances — some standing still, others strolling over the turf.