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  • Puffin

Puffin

Puffin (summer plumage)
Puffin (summer plumage)
Puffin (first-winter plumage)
Puffin (first-winter plumage)
  • Scientific name: Fratercula arctica
  • Bird family: Auks
  • UK conservation status: Red
  • Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Puffin sound audio

Your browser does not support this audio feature.

Hans Petter Kristoffersen, Xeno-canto

Key information

Puffins are unmistakable birds with their black back and white underparts, distinctive black head with large pale cheeks and their tall, flattened, brightly-coloured bill. Its comical appearance is heightened by its red and black eye-markings and bright orange legs.

Used as a symbol for books and other items, this clown among seabirds is one of the world's favourite birds. With half of the UK population at only a few sites it is an Red List species.

What they eat:

Fish, especially sandeels.

Measurements:

Length:
26-29cm
Wingspan:
47-63cm
Weight:
320-480g

Population:

UK breeding is the number of pairs breeding annually. UK wintering is the number of individuals present from October to March. UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or autumn.
UK breeding:
580,000 pairs

Identifying features:

This bird species has different identifying features depending on sex/age/season.

Puffin (summer plumage)

Puffin, adult in summer plumage
Feather colour: Black Grey White
Leg colour: Orange
Beak: Black Blue Orange Red Yellow Medium length Powerful Chunky
Natural habitats: Marine and intertidal

Puffin (first-winter plumage)

Puffin, first winter
Feather colour: Black Grey White
Leg colour: Orange
Beak: Black Brown Yellow Medium length Powerful Chunky
Natural habitats: Marine and intertidal

Similar birds:

Guillemot illustration
Guillemot
Razorbill, summer plumage
Razorbill
Little auk swimming
Little auk

Where and when to see them

To see puffins, it is best to look for a breeding colony. Try the RSPB's Bempton Cliffs (N Yorks) and South Stack (Anglesey) reserves, the Farne Islands and Coquet Island (Northumberland), the Isle of May (off the Fife coast) and the Shetland and Orkney Islands.

* This map is intended as a guide. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations.
  • Resident
  • Passage
  • Summer
  • Winter
Puffin distribution map

Adult puffins arrive back at the breeding colony in March and April and leave again in mid-August. Some remain in the North Sea at winter, others move further south to the Bay of Biscay.

  • jan
  • feb
  • mar
  • apr
  • may
  • jun
  • jul
  • aug
  • sep
  • oct
  • nov
  • dec

RSPB reserves

  • RSPB Mull of Galloway
  • RSPB Troup Head
  • RSPB South Stack Cliffs
  • RSPB North Hill
  • RSPB Rathlin Island
  • RSPB Sumburgh Head
  • RSPB Fowlsheugh
  • RSPB Bempton Cliffs
  • RSPB Hoy
  • RSPB Dunnet Head
  • RSPB Noup Cliffs

Video

A close up look at puffins in their coastal habitat. Watch with the sound on for the full effect!

A close up look of puffins in their coastal habitat.

Puffin video screenshot

Don't let threatened birds fade away

Will you help us to save our threatened birds? The number of birds at severe risk in the UK has nearly doubled. Our birds are struggling to find safe places to nest and enough food to feed their young. They urgently need our help. Find out about the RSPB’s work to save our threatened birds, and discover simple ways you can help them to thrive. Together, we can save our birds.

I'll help

In more depth

Puffin nesting and breeding habits

Puffin nesting and breeding habits

Threats

Threats

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The birdsong guide to coastal cliffs

Birdsong: it is the soundtrack to our adventures, the tunes to which we explore. The sounds of coastal cliffs surround you with the calls, cackles, shouts and seductive songs of the birds which love living life on the edge. We hope this guide will help you pick out and identify the sounds of some of these amazing birds as you wander across headlands this spring and summer.
Black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, adult standing on a potential nest site, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly

Enjoy a seabird spectacular

Almost everyone can recognise a puffin stood proudly on a cliff, with its chest puffed out and a beak-full of sandeels. However, there is a lot more to our seabird selection than these comical auks - and the 'seagulls' familiar to any visitor to seaside towns. Find out more about the fantastic seabirds who call our coastlines home.
Kittiwake pair standing on rock, Isle of May National Nature reserve

Why are seabirds starving?

At the top of the marine food web, seabirds are a visible sign of the changes taking place below the surface. They are sensitive to disruptions in the food chain. Sand eels are disappearing due to dramatic changes in their plankton diet. In turn, birds are not finding enough sandeel food to sustain them and their young. Find out what is happening to our seabirds and the marine environment on which they, and their young, depend.

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