Atlantic Puffin Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesAtlantic Puffin
Breeding adult
Stout black-and-white seabird with a huge, red, yellow, and gray bill.
© Fyn Kynd / Macaulay LibraryMaine, June 16, 2015Breeding
Pairs often remain together for many years. Courtship displays involve head bobbing and rubbing the bills together.
© DAVID BROWN / Macaulay LibraryMaine, July 15, 2007Not all videos have sound
Breeding adult
Huge triangular bill is noticeable in flight. Black collar separates white belly and whitish face. Note dark underwings.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, June 27, 2015Nonbreeding adult
Nonbreeding birds have a grayer face and the bill lacks the yellow highlights.
© Michael Lanzone / Macaulay LibraryNew Jersey, February 06, 2016Nonbreeding/immature
The bill on juveniles is reddish orange and gray, but it is smaller and not as pronounced. The face is gray.
© Peter Flood / Macaulay LibraryNorth Carolina, February 16, 2020Breeding adult
An unmistakable black-and-white seabird with a huge, multicolored bill, and a grayish white face.
© Jieles van Baalen / Macaulay LibraryEngland, June 15, 2019Similar SpeciesHorned Puffin
Nonbreeding adult
Ranges of Horned and Atlantic Puffins do not overlap, but note that Horned Puffins are larger than Atlantic Puffins.
© Kasia & Takashi Someya / Macaulay LibraryHokkaido, November 22, 2015Similar SpeciesHorned Puffin
Breeding adult
Ranges of Horned and Atlantic Puffins do not overlap, but note that breeding Horned Puffins do not have gray in the bill like Atlantic Puffins.
© Andrew Spencer / Macaulay LibraryAlaska, May 30, 2013Similar SpeciesTufted Puffin
Breeding
Tufted Puffins occur in the Pacific and Atlantic Puffins in the Atlantic. The golden feathers on the Tufted Puffin separate them.
© Matt Brady / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 25, 2010Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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