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10 Things You Might Not Know About Puffins

There are three distinct kinds of puffin: horned, tufted and the Atlantic. There are 12 to 15 million Atlantic puffins in the world, and more than 60 per cent of North America’s population nest on three islands in Witless Bay, Newfoundland. We saw them on our Newfoundland cruise in 2003.
The Atlantic puffin is very colourful with its multi-hued beak, orange feet and red eye-markings. In winter, however, the beak turns dark and the feathers around the eyes become grey. The colour and shape of its bill changes annually, and brightens again each mating season.
The name ‘puffin’ is thought to derive from the pudgy chicks or the aggressive territorial behaviour displayed when a male puffs up his body. The bird’s scientific name is Fratercula Arctica.

Puffins produce one egg per year. Both parents take turns incubating it under their wings. When the chick matures, the parents lure it out of the burrow at night. If it gets to the water before sunrise, it’s left on its own and will not return to land again for five years!
Atlantic puffins are camouflaged from predators both above and below. When a whale looks up at a puffin floating on the ocean, the bird’s white breast blends in with the sky. From above, its black head and back blend in with the surface of the water.
In the air, puffins can reach speeds of up to 88km/h flapping their wings 400 times a minute. Underwater they swim much the same way, flapping their wings and using their feet like rudders. They’ve been known to dive as deep as 180 metres.

Puffins are solitary birds that congregate in small numbers at sea. They only return to land when they are ready to mate, returning to the same mate and the same nest every year.
In Maine, USA, the puffin was nearly wiped out by hunters after their feathers, beaks and meat. Two lighthouse keepers were able to save the remaining pair. In places like Norway and Iceland, the puffin isn’t endangered; you can find them on restaurant menus.
Contrary to popular belief, puffins are actually tiny birds. An adult puffin stands only 18cm tall and weighs about 500 grams, about the same as a can of pop.
Puffins have spines on their tongues and upper beak, which allow them to stack and hold fish, yet continue opening their mouths. A puffin was once found to have 62 fish in its beak!