Puffin

The Puffin is an unmistakable bird with its black back and white underparts and distinctive black head with large pale cheeks and a tall, flattened, brightly-coloured bill. Its comical appearance is heightened by its red and black eye-markings and bright orange legs. Used as a symbol for books and other items, this "clown" among seabirds is one of the world's favourite birds.

With half of the UK population at only a few sites the Puffin is an “Amber List” species.

Puffins prefer offshore islands and high sea cliffs and breed colonially with nests in burrows, under boulders or in cracks in cliffs where predators cannot easily reach them.

They are best looked for at a breeding colony such as Bempton Cliffs (East Yorkshire), the Farne Islands (Northumberland), South Stack (Anglesey, Wales), the Isle of May (West Lothian, Scotland) and the Shetland and Orkney Islands.

Adults arrive back at their breeding colonies in March and April and leave again in mid-August. Some remain in the North Sea at winter whilst others move further south to the Bay of Biscay.

Date: 16/04/07

Location: Bempton Cliffs, East Yorkshire