The Puffin

Fratercula arctica

The Puffin looses its brightly coloured bill during the winter months that it spends out to sea.

Approximately, 580,000 pairs nest in the UK.

They nests in burrows on clifftops.

Puffins start to arrive at their nesting grounds in March (in the south) and May (in the north) leaving from mid-August to early September.

When the young leave the nest to go to sea they don’t return to the colony until they’re two years old.

Their food is chiefly marine fish, particularly sand eels.

They dive after their prey whilst swimming on the surface of the sea, propelling themselves underwater with their wings.

Young birds are called Pufflins.