All About Atlantic Puffins

Puffins eat small fish such as sand eels and herring. Puffins collect ten fish at a time in their beaks for their pufflings. They catch their fish from diving in the water head first. Puffins swim quickly so that the fish won’t see them.

Burrows are on rocky cliffs so that the puffins can get and have peace from their predators. They keep their babies in burrows to keep them safe. Puffins stay in only one burrow – the one they dug. Puffins can also live on calm islands and not just on rocky cliffs. Puffins also live on large steep mountains.

Puffins are 25 cm long or 1 inch. Puffins use their wings as paddles when they are in the water. The puffins have a rough tounge so that helps them hold all the fish in their mouth. Their beaks are made out of keratin. The Atlantic puffin weighs between 320 – 500g. Puffins live up to 20 years of age. Puffins lay one egg every April to May.

Puffins take 49 days to learn how to fly on it’s own. Oil makes puffins get sick. The scientific name is Fratercula Artica. They can hold their breath underwater for 30 seconds to a minute. The pufflings leave their burrows at 3-5 years of age. The Atlantic puffin is the smallest species of the puffin family. Puffins are not endangered. There is six million puffins living today. If the puffins don’t get back to their burrows in time the pesky gulls will get the fish out of their beaks.