Atlantic puffins are short, thick bird standing only 8 inches tall and 12 inches in length, with a 19 – 25-inch wingspan. Males are slightly larger than females but have the same coloration.

Their primary colors are black on their back and white underneath. Some distinguished markings are the grey crease leading from their triangular eyes, their bright orange feet and their brightly colored thick beak which varies in size by age.

They spend most of their time preening themselves to keep their feathers oily and water-resistant. An Atlantic puffin’s wings are small for their body weight so they can flap quickly in the air (up to 400 times per minute) and be used to propel themselves underwater.

They can dive around 200 feet effectively using their webbed feet as a rudder.

All of the Atlantic puffin’s characteristic colorful markings are shed in a partial molt at the end of the breeding season. Their beaks become duller and less broad, their eye markings are shed, and their faces become darker. This winter plumage state is rarely seen by humans since the puffins return to the sea the entire winter until the next breeding season.

The Atlantic puffin is one of three puffin species; however, the Atlantic puffin is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean. The tufted puffin and horned puffin are found on the Pacific Ocean. This seabird prefers colder waters near rocky islands with short vegetation in places such as Iceland, Greenland, Ireland, Maine, and more.

An Atlantic puffin’s diet consists mainly of fish, but they may also other small ocean critters like shrimp.

While flying, Atlantic puffins sense prey by sight and will dive into the water where they can stay submerged for up to a minute. They have specialized tongues that allow them to hold around 10 fish at once! An Atlantic puffin will use its coarse tongue to push fish against a spiky patch in its mouth that will hold the prey while it continues to hunt.

To counteract the high salt content ingested, Atlantic puffins use not only their high-functioning kidneys but also specialized salt glands in its nostrils.

Atlantic puffins are monogamous and return to the same breeding location with their same partner every spring. Instead of the traditional bird nest, puffins will either dig out a deep burrow or move into a pre-existing burrow and drive off the other occupant. They lay only one egg a year and the parents share incubation and protection duties. After 6 weeks, a 1.5-ounce, black, fluffy puffling is born! Parents will make over 100 trips a day to bring fish back for the whole family until the chicks leave on their own after about 3 months.

The Atlantic puffin can be broken down into three other subspecies, but they are all essentially the same bird with slight size differences.

Atlantic puffins spend a large portion of their lives at sea, only coming ashore to breed.