Breathless, a-Huffin' and a-???

Saturday-Sunday, June 7-8, 2025

Breathless, a-Huffin’ and a-???

Today’s special animal friend is the Atlantic puffin, Fratercula arctica. The Atlantic puffin is a seabird native to the waters, islands, and coasts of the North Atlantic. They are also found at the North Carolina Zoo, and I have a plush puffin named Edna. They are super adorable.

Atlantic puffins are short, stout birds, about 12 inches long, with a wingspan about 24 inches, weighing 1 to 1-1/2 lbs. They have a black head and back, gray cheek patches, and white underparts. Their legs and feet are bright orange, and their large, curved bills are red and orange with a dramatic black chevron at the base. The bill has a very narrow cross section, which reduces its weight while maintaining strength for biting. Their wings are small relative to their weight, and they fly well but with considerable effort.

Puffins spend most of their life on the open ocean, floating along, snapping up fish near the surface or diving to pursue fish. They use both their webbed feet and their long, narrow wings to propel themselves through the water. They are solitary during their oceanic period, which is September-ish to late spring. During this time, they molt, and the colors of their beak and facial markings fade. The colors brighten during mating season, which begins in April in the southern part of their range (Maine) but not until June in Greenland.

Mated pairs usually reconnect in the spring, either on the ocean or at the breeding grounds. Puffins always nest in large colonies, and they favor islands over mainland coast. Around 60% of Atlantic puffins nest in Iceland. The largest Western Atlantic colony is at Witless Bay in Canada. Puffin couples dig burrows in soft ground in which the female lays a single egg. The parents take turns incubating the egg for 39 to 45 days. Infant puffins are fed with fish and eels brought mainly by the father. Adult puffins near land eat crustaceans as well as fish.

Babies take 35 to 50 days to fledge, depending on their diet. Once fledged, they paddle, rather than fly, out to sea, where they remain for up to three years. Reproductive life begins at about 5 years of age. A 20-year lifespan is not uncommon, and some live over 30 years. Predators include seals and larger seabirds such as the Great Black-Backed Gull and the Great Skua. On land, a variety of small mammals, reptiles, and bird of prey can be a threat to eggs and infants. Puffins are hunted for food in the Faroe Islands.

The Atlantic puffin is considered Vulnerable by conservationists. Although the population is large – in the 12 million range – significant declines have been observed in some habitats. Invasive animals, including cats and dogs, can increase predation. Some breeding areas have been abandoned due to overuse by puffins, which cause erosion with their burrowing. Conservationists have been able to help establish colonies in new areas. Fishing patterns and sea-water temperature change affect the availability of fish for infant puffins.

Not much is known about the lives of Atlantic puffins at sea. Although they are very numerous, their solitary habits and the size of the Atlantic Ocean make them difficult to study. “Light level geolocators” are being used to trace a few puffins’ movements, but the puffin must be recaptured to retrieve the device and its information. With another ten years of technological advances, we will learn so much more!