Atlantic Puffin in Canada: Features, Facts and Much More

The Atlantic Puffin is a cute seabird with a black back and white belly. It has a large, colorful beak that looks like red, blue, and yellow stripes. They can fly, but they spend much time swimming and diving in the ocean to catch fish. Puffins gather at seaside cliffs and burrow holes during breeding season to lay their eggs. Puffins are known for their funny toddle when they walk on land.

The biggest puffin colonies in Canada are found on the islands. The population of Atlantic puffins in Canada faces threats from pollution, oil spills, climate change impacts and introduced predators like rats on their nesting islands.

Physical Characteristics and Features

Some physical features of this cute-looking bird that can grab your attention and force you to capture them in your cameras:

Some fascinating facts about these seabirds inhabiting the Pacific Ocean:

• Distinctive Colorful Beak

  The Puffin’s beak is its most distinctive feature, with a catchy orange, blue, and black color during the breeding season.
  

• Excellent Swimmer

  They are excellent swimmers and can dive up to 60 meters deep in search of small fishes.
  

• Nesting on Coastal Cliffs

  These birds nest on steep coastal cliffs, digging burrows or using crevices in the rocks to lay their eggs.
  

• Webbed Feet

  They have webbed feet, which aid in their swimming and diving abilities.
  

• Flightless for a Short Period

  After the breeding season, puffins undergo a molting process during which they are temporarily flightless.
  

• Excellent Flyers

  Despite their small size, puffins are excellent flyers, capable of traveling long distances over the ocean.
  

• Parental Care

  Both parents take turns incubating the single egg and feeding the chick after it hatches.
  

• Migratory Birds

  Atlantic Puffins are migratory birds, spending the breeding season on land and the non-breeding season at sea.
  

• Fascinating Adaptations

  Puffins have several adaptations that help them thrive in their marine environment, such as waterproof feathers, the ability to drink salt water, and a specialized tongue for catching fish.
  

• Distinctive Calls

  Puffins have distinctive calls that they use for communication within their colonies, including a loud, growling call and a soft, murmuring call.
  

• Cultural Significance

  In some coastal communities in Canada, the Atlantic Puffin holds cultural significance and is celebrated through art, literature, and local traditions.

Sub-Species in Canada

There are two sub-species of these seabirds in the Canadian population:

•  Tufted Puffin: 

  This has a distinctive tuft of feathers on top of its head during the breeding season, resembling a pair of golden “horns.” It has a triangular red beak and a white facial mask.
  

•  Horned Puffin 

  The horned puffin has a unique upward-curving “horn” extending from the upper eyelid during the breeding season. It has a reddish-orange beak and a black facial mask.
  

Sight Seeing of Atlantic Puffins

The best places to see these birds are the coasts around the islands and they can be photographed quite easily in these places:

When to See Atlantic Puffins

The season that can be the ideal one to see these cute birds starts from late May to September at the breeding locations where they move frequently.

They make the Canadian atmosphere beautiful and colorful with their attractive colors allowing the tourists to be attracted to these places.