Puffins

Puffins are cute little seabirds. They have black and white feathers and bright orange beaks. People sometimes call them sea parrots. Puffins spend most of their lives on the ocean. They only come to land to lay their eggs.

Great Swimmers

Puffins are better at swimming than flying. They use their wings to paddle underwater like flippers. They can dive down 200 feet to catch fish. Puffins can hold many small fish in their beaks at once. Their favorite food is sand eels.

Puffin Nests

Puffins nest on rocky cliffs by the ocean. They dig burrows in the dirt or hide in rocks. A mother puffin lays just one egg each year. Both parents take turns keeping the egg warm. Baby puffins are called pufflings.

Fun Facts

• A puffin's beak turns bright orange in the summer.
• Puffins can flap their wings 400 times each minute.
• They can carry over 10 fish in their beak at once.

Did You Know?

Puffins often come back to the same nest burrow every year, even after flying across the ocean.