Atlantic Puffin
Atlantic puffins returned to historic Maine nesting islands through decades of seabird restoration, social attraction, and careful colony protection.
Artwork inspired by Dahlov Ipcar
Atlantic puffins spend most of the year at sea and return to rocky islands to nest in burrows or crevices. Their colorful bill plates brighten during breeding season, and adults carry small fish crosswise to a single chick while black-and-white plumage blends with both sea and sky.
Puffins had disappeared from most Maine islands before restoration moved chicks from Newfoundland, protected colonies, and used decoys and recorded calls to encourage returning adults. Boat viewing should keep distance from nesting ledges; landing is restricted on many islands, and fog or sea conditions can cancel a trip.
- Maine season
- Spring through summer nesting
- Nest
- Burrow or rock crevice
- Recovery
- Project Puffin restoration
Quick guide
- Watch
- Use an ethical seabird cruise or shore scope.
- Confirm
- Compact auk with triangular multicolored bill.
Read a puffin on water and ledge
- Bill
- Breeding adults show a deep triangular bill with orange, yellow, and gray.
- Flight
- Rapid wingbeats carry a compact body low over water.
- Swimming
- Birds sit low and dive using wings for underwater propulsion.
- Colony
- Repeated fish-carrying flights suggest an active nest nearby; keep away.
Good to know
A close-looking photograph can come from a long lens. Puffins are small seabirds, and apparent size or proximity in an image says little about how responsibly it was made.
Notice these
- Colorful triangular bill
- White face
- Orange feet