Atlantic puffin

Voice

Silent at sea. At the colony a deep, drawn-out groan rises from the burrow, roughly arr-uh-arrrr, like a chainsaw being started, loudest in the evening. It does not carry far and is heard only when you walk among the burrows on a breeding island, from May to early August.

Identification

Stocky, with a large rounded head and a short neck. In summer a deep triangular bill with blue-grey, yellow and red plates, a pale grey-white face mask, a black collar and bright orange legs, plus a red orbital ring with grey horny ornaments. In winter the outer bill plates are shed: the bill becomes smaller and duller and the face turns dark grey, so the bird stands out much less. In flight the dark underwing is decisive, together with the bulbous head, the whirring beats and the orange feet trailing behind. Immatures show a distinctly narrower, dark bill.

Confusion species

Razorbill and Guillemot are slimmer, longer-billed and show a white underwing in flight; on the water the Puffin's steep forehead is obvious. Little Auk is far smaller, with a minimal bill and a white line on the scapulars. A distant winter Puffin is regularly written off as a Razorbill; look for the shorter, deeper bill, the greyish face and the absence of white running back behind the eye.

Habitat

Breeds in self-dug burrows in the grassy tops of islands and cliffs and in crevices in boulder fields, with colonies in Iceland, the Faroes, Norway, Scotland and Ireland. Outside the breeding season it disperses widely over the Atlantic and the northern North Sea, diving for sandeels, sprat and young herring. In winter it rarely comes within sight of land.

Range and movements

The Netherlands lies at the edge of the wintering range: most records come from seawatches in strong winds, from ferries and from birds found dead on the beach. Spain holds substantial winter numbers in the Bay of Biscay and off Galicia, with smaller numbers along the Mediterranean. The nearest colonies are in Britain, Ireland and Norway.

• Breeding (summer)
• Winter
• Passage
• dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Where and when to look

To see the bird properly, travel in May, June or July to a colony such as Skomer, the Farne Islands, Runde or Látrabjarg, where birds land within metres carrying bills full of sandeels. For Dutch records, seawatch after a prolonged north-westerly gale between November and February, or take a winter ferry crossing with a telescope on the stern deck. When in doubt, always note the underwing: that feature holds up when colour and bill shape are lost to backlight.

Conservation status

Vulnerable on the global list and assessed still less favourably in Europe, with steep declines in the core colonies of Norway and Iceland. The main driver is food shortage: warmer sea water shifts the stocks of sandeels and young herring, so chicks are underfed and broods fail year after year. Introduced rats and mink on breeding islands, net bycatch and oil pollution add to the pressure; limiting the sandeel fishery counts as the most direct management measure.