Atlantic Puffin

About the Atlantic Puffin

Also known as: Common Puffin

The Atlantic Puffin is a seabird in the auk family. It is a pelagic species that feeds primarily by diving for fish. Its most obvious characteristic is its brightly colored beak during the breeding seasons. It is the only puffin species which is found in the Atlantic Ocean.

They breed on the coasts of northern Europe, Faroe Islands, Iceland and eastern North America, from well within the Arctic Circle to northern France and Maine. The winter months are spent at sea far from land - in Europe as far south as the Mediterranean and in North America to North Carolina.

The Atlantic Puffin is typically silent at sea, except for soft purring sounds it sometimes makes in flight. At the breeding colonies the birds make a deep growl.

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Details & Statistics

Added to Birdorable
Hatched on 05 August 2007
Scientific Name
Fratercula arctica
  • Charadriiformes
  • Alcidae
  • Fratercula
  • F. arctica
Birdorable Family
Conservation Status
Vulnerable (as of 7 April 2020)
VU
  • Least Concern (LC)
  • Near Threatened (NT)
  • Vulnerable (VU)
  • Endangered (EN)
  • Critically Endangered (CR)
  • Extinct in the Wild (EW)
  • Extinct (EX)
Source: IUCN Red List
Measurements
Units: Imperial / Metric
11 to 13.5 inches
20 to 24 inches

Range

Conservation

From IUCN Red List:
The Atlantic Puffin is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2015 by BirdLife International. This species has experienced rapid declines across its European range. Population trends outside Europe are unknown. Extrapolated over three generation lengths and allowing for uncertainty, the population is thought to be declining at a rate sufficient to trigger Vulnerable under the population size criterion. Should population trends become less uncertain both within and outside its European range it may merit uplisting or downlisting.

International Names

Czech (Cesky) Papuchalk Severní
Danish (Dansk) Lunde
Dutch (Nederlands) Papegaaiduiker
Finnish (Suomi) Lunni
French (Français) Macareux Moine
German (Deutsch) Papageitaucher
Italian (Italiano) Fratercula Arctica
Japanese (日本語) ニシツノメドリ (Nishitsunomedori)
Norwegian (Norsk) Lunde
Polish (Polski) Maskonur
Russian (русский язык) Тупик
Spanish (Español) Frailecillo Común
Swedish (Svenska) Lunnefågel
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