What Puffins Like to Eat

Traditionally hunted for eggs, feathers and meat, puffin populations declined dramatically during the 19th century and early 20th century. Although hunting continues in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, this diminutive bird has gained some measure of protection elsewhere, as scientists and conservationists recognize the bird's usefulness as a bell weather for the health of fish stocks and of the entire marine ecosphere.

  1. Types of Puffin

    • A tufted puffin sits on a rocky outcrop.

      Think of a puffin and you bring to mind a small bird with a brightly colored beak, often found in seashore areas such as cliffs and shorelines. However there are actually four different types of puffin in four different locations. The Atlantic puffin, also known as the common puffin, is characterized by a blue triangle on its beak and is the smallest of the family, measuring only 10 to 11 inches in height. The horned puffin has a predominantly yellow beak with a bright orange flash on the tip, and a horn-like projection above its eyes. The tufted puffin is the largest of the family at 14 to 15 inches in height and is distinguished by a swirl of tan-colored head feathers during the mating season. Although appearances may be deceptive, the rhinoceros auklet also belongs to the puffin family. A dull brown feathered bird, this puffin has a shallower beak than its cousins and a knob-like protuberance on the upper part of its beak.

    Where to Find Puffins

    • Puffin colonies exist from the Americas to Scandinavia.

      True to their name, Atlantic puffins nest from Labrador to the northeastern United States, along the Brittany coast of France, in Scandinavia -- Iceland and Greenland -- and northern Russia. Horned puffins are found along the coast from northwestern Alaska to the British Columbia border and sightings have been made as far away as the northern coast of Asia. Breeding colonies of the tufted puffin exist from northwestern Alaska to central California. The vast majority of puffins are found in Iceland, where fully 60 percent percent of the population breeds.

    Puffin Diet

    • Small spikes enable to puffin to hold multiple fish in its beak.

      As a pelagic, the puffin's diet consists mainly of cold water, open ocean fish such as herring, hake, sand eels and capelin. Diving into water up to 200 feet deep, the birds use their short but powerful wings to propel themselves in pursuit of prey. Their feet act as rudders, steering underwater as they collect up to 10 fish in their beaks per trip. Small spikes along the roof of the puffin's mouth help keep the fish in place, as it maximizes its catch before returning to often distant breeding burrows. Depending on the type of puffin and the respective geographical location, the exact components of the bird's diet vary, but small fish are preferred, along with marine invertebrates such as crustaceans, mollusks and squid. As with most birds, young puffins are fed fish by their parents, often several times per day.

    Fun Facts about Puffins

    • A group of puffins can be known as a "parliament".

      Mating for life, puffins are a relatively long living bird -- often reaching 20 years or more. They lay only a single creamy-white egg per year from which the chick -- known as a "puffling" -- emerges. Scotland hosts a large breeding population and common Scottish nicknames for puffins include "clowns of the sea," "tammy norries" and "Red Jimmy." Several collective nouns exist for a group pf puffins: an "ornery," a "parliament," a "circus" and -- perhaps the best -- an "improbability" of puffins.