Atlantic Puffin

Atlantic Puffin

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About the map

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Sound
4. Range
5. Conservation Status
6. Other Names

A natty black-and-white seabird with a huge, multicolored bill, the Atlantic Puffin looks like a clown of the sea. It breeds in colonies on rocky islands in the North Atlantic and winters at sea.

Cool Facts

• The Atlantic Puffin may live to be more than 30 years old. It does not breed until it is three to six years old.
• The bright colors of the Atlantic Puffin make it well loved by people. Boat tours to see puffins are popular near their breeding grounds, and it has been selected to be the provincial bird of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Description

• Stocky, large-headed black-and-white bird.
• Large triangular bill colored red, blue, and yellow in summer, but duller in winter.
• White cheek.
• Black back, neck and top of head.
• Legs orange.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Immature similar to winter adult, but bill thinner.

Sound

Silent above ground, in breeding burrow makes growling sound like a chainsaw buzzing.

Range

Range Map

© 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds on small offshore islands from Maine northward, and across the North Atlantic to Brittany.

Winter Range

Winters at sea in breeding range and southward to Massachusetts.

Conservation Status

Heavily exploited for eggs and meat in 1800s and early 1900s. Populations drastically declined, with some colonies eliminated. Currently American population is growing. Reintroduction program in Maine run by National Audubon Society was successful in creating new breeding colonies of the species in that state. For more information, visit Project Puffin.

Other Names

Macareux moine (French)
Frailecillo (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Lowther, P. E., A. W. Diamond, S. W. Kress, G. J. Robertson, and K. Russell. 2002. Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica). In The Birds of North America, No. 709 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.