Puffin Facts and Habitat

Puffins in Motion Places

The Puffin’s colorful beak and comical looks make it the most recognizable and popular Alaskan seabird. Adult Puffins are 14” long and weigh 1 ¼ pounds. The birds nest underground using the claws on their webbed feet to scratch out burros. Where soil is scarce, puffins nest on rocky slopes or cliff faces. Puffins live on land only when breeding, otherwise their natural habitat is the sea.

Puffins in Motion. Puffins are extremely poor flyers, yet excellent swimmers. The birds use their short powerful wings to essentially “fly” underwater while using their feet to control direction. They have difficulty becoming airborne and flap their wings at an amazing 300 - 400 beats per minute to maintain flight. Puffins also have trouble landing and often crash onto the sea or tumble onto the grass, bowling over anything in their path.

Bird Watching at Puffin Inn. Bird watchers from around the world flock to Alaska to observe birds of prey, seabirds and other winged species in their natural habitat. Puffin Inn in Anchorage provides a convenient launching point for guided bird watching excursions that may include sightings of Alaska’s most recognizable resident bird, the colorful Puffin.  [Top]

Places to See Puffin in Alaska. Abundant in Alaska, Puffins may be seen in the Prince William Sound and many locations along the Kenai Peninsula. Organized tours such as those organized by Kenai Fjords Tours offers unparalleled opportunities to view marine birds in their natural habitats. Explore the Chiswell Islands and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge aboard a “captain’s choice” tour that tailors routes to wildlife activity. More than 20,000 horned and tufted puffins return every summer to Chiswell Island to make their nests.

To learn more about the Puffin, visit these fun websites
www.projectpuffin.org/
www.mainebirding.net/puffin/
members.aol.com/puffindog/puffin.html
http://www.hermaness.shetland.co.uk/puffin.htm

To see Puffins while in Alaska, visit these sites for information
http://www.alaskasealife.org/
www.kenaifjords.com/
http://www.seward.net/kayakcamp  [Top]