Puffins, often called the “sea parrot” or the “clown of the sea” due to their colorful appearance, are indeed birds. These charismatic creatures spend the vast majority of their lives on the open ocean, only returning to land to breed. Their unique adaptations for a marine existence often lead to confusion about their classification. However, puffins are fully capable of flight.
Yes, Puffins Are Birds: Classification and Physical Traits
Puffins belong to the Order Charadriiformes, alongside gulls and terns. They are members of the family Alcidae, which encompasses auks, murres, and guillemots. Within this family, puffins are grouped into the genus Fratercula, a name that translates to “little friar” due to their black and white plumage resembling a monk’s robe.
There are three recognized species of puffins, each inhabiting different northern oceans. The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) is the only species found in the North Atlantic, while the Horned Puffin and the Tufted Puffin inhabit the North Pacific. All three species share a stocky build, short wings, and a distinctive large, triangular, multi-colored beak during the breeding season. This vibrant outer sheath, known as the rhamphotheca, is shed after the breeding season, leaving a smaller, duller bill for the winter months.
Puffins possess a skeletal structure that reflects their dual lifestyle in air and water. Unlike many land birds, puffins have proportionally thicker bone in their humeri. This denser bone structure provides ballast, helping the bird maintain depth and counteract buoyancy when diving deep underwater. Their heavy, compact bodies are covered in dense, wax-coated feathers that provide insulation and water resistance in the frigid marine environment.
Specialized Adaptations for Marine Environments
The puffin’s short, powerful wings are their most notable physical adaptation for marine life. These wings are used for flight in the air, but also act as fins, allowing the bird to “fly” underwater with a powerful, flapping motion. This wing-propelled swimming technique makes them agile pursuit divers, capable of chasing down small, schooling fish. To achieve sufficient lift for aerial flight, their wings must beat at an extremely high rate, sometimes reaching up to 400 strokes per minute.
Their streamlined bodies and specialized feet further enhance aquatic efficiency. Their webbed feet are positioned far back on the body, which makes them appear clumsy on land but provides optimal propulsion and steering control underwater. The primary diet of a puffin consists of small fish, such as sand eels, herring, and capelin.
Puffins have a unique anatomical feature that allows them to be highly efficient providers for their young. Their tongue and the roof of their mouth are covered with backward-facing spines. This adaptation enables them to securely hold a large number of fish crosswise in their beak simultaneously without losing previous catches. This ability to carry multiple fish maximizes food delivery to the nest.
Nesting and Life on the Colony
Puffins are highly social birds that spend their summers breeding in large, noisy colonies on coastal cliffs and isolated islands. They display strong nest-site fidelity, often returning to the same location year after year. Nesting habits vary by species and location, but generally involve digging deep burrows into soft earth or utilizing natural rock crevices.
The Atlantic and Tufted Puffins typically excavate burrows up to a meter in depth on grassy slopes. Conversely, the Horned Puffin prefers to nest in natural rock crevices and under boulders on steep cliffs. Puffins form strong pair bonds, and both the male and female share the responsibilities of incubating the single egg they lay each year. The resulting chick, sometimes called a “puffling,” is cared for by both parents until it is ready to fledge and begin its life at sea.