Atlantic Puffin

Fratercula arctica

The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) is a bird found in United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Norway, Iceland and Faroe Islands. Cold North Atlantic seas. It nests on grassy sea cliffs. It eats fish and insects and other small invertebrates. The IUCN Red List lists it as Vulnerable.

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Scientific name	Fratercula arctica
Region	Europe
Found in	United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Norway, Iceland and Faroe Islands

🏡 Where the Atlantic Puffin lives

Cold North Atlantic seas. It nests on grassy sea cliffs.

🍽️ What it eats

🐟 Fish80%
🐛 Insects & bugs20%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

VulnerableGetting rare. It needs our help.

💡 A puffin can carry a dozen small fish crosswise in its beak at once.

Hear the Atlantic Puffin

Recorded by Irish Wildlife Sounds (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC667977. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Atlantic Puffin

Where does the Atlantic Puffin live?

The Atlantic Puffin lives in United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Norway, Iceland and Faroe Islands. Cold North Atlantic seas. It nests on grassy sea cliffs.

What does the Atlantic Puffin eat?

fish (about 80%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 20%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Atlantic Puffin endangered?

Getting rare. It needs our help. Its IUCN Red List category is Vulnerable.

More birds from Europe

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.