Hands Down Animals · Printable fact sheet
Puffin
Fratercula
Quick facts
| Scientific name | Fratercula |
|---|---|
| Size | 28–38 cm in length, wingspan 47–63 cm |
| Weight | 0.5–0.8 kg |
| Lifespan | 15–25 years on average in the wild |
| Diet | Puffins are carnivorous, primarily feeding on small fish (such as herring, capelin, sand lance), but also… |
| Habitat | steep sea cliffs, rocky offshore islands, grassy cliff tops |
| Where it lives | North Atlantic Ocean, Barents Sea, Norwegian Sea, English Channel |
| IUCN status | Vulnerable (Atlantic Puffin), Least Concern (Horned and Tufted Puffin) |
| Population | 12,000,000-15,000,000 |
| Top speed | 88 km/h |
| Family | Alcidae |
About the puffin
Atlantic puffins nest in burrows on sea cliffs and islands around the North Atlantic, from Maine and Newfoundland to Iceland, Norway and the British Isles, and Iceland alone holds more than half of the world's breeding pairs. The brightly coloured bill plates grow for the breeding season and are shed in winter, and a puffin can carry a dozen or more small fish crosswise in its beak, held in place by a spiny tongue and palate. Poor sand eel supplies and warming seas have hit some colonies hard, and the species is listed as Vulnerable.
Five things to know
- Puffins can fly at speeds up to 88 km/h by flapping their wings up to 400 times per minute.
- Their bills change color, becoming more brightly colored during the breeding season.
- Puffins hold many small fish crosswise in their bills thanks to specialized spines.
- Both parents share in incubating the egg and feeding the chick.
- Atlantic puffins are the only species found in the North Atlantic; the other two are strictly North Pacific.
Homeschool unit: Birds homeschool guide — Flight, feathers and migration: a bird unit that uses species like the puffin as its worked examples.