Granddad’s Camera
Puffin, as it appears in the game

No.053 · Birds · Common

Puffin

Fratercula arctica

The 'clown of the sea': a stubby black-and-white auk with a striped orange bill that nests in burrows on turf-topped islands like Skomer.

When to look

April to July, mostly at day and dusk.

Time of day

Best time
Skomer, roughly mid-April to late July (best May–July); best on the clifftops in the evening, carrying sand eels back to burrows in June–July.
Where in the game
the Pembrokeshire coast (island and sea)
Size
Body about 26–30 cm
Wingspan
47–63 cm
Weight
About 390 g (adults)
Lifespan
Typically 18 years once breeding; the oldest ringed bird was 42 years old (BTO)
Population
580,000 pairs in the UK (BTO, 1998–2002). Skomer: 41,605 puffins counted on 26 March 2024, 43,626 in 2025 and a record 52,019 in the 2026 count (Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales)
Status
Red list, UK Birds of Conservation Concern (BTO); Vulnerable globally (IUCN)

Diet

Small shoaling fish, mainly sand eels in Welsh waters. A puffin can carry a row of fish crosswise in its bill

Habitat

Spends the winter at sea. Breeds in burrows in short turf on grassy slopes above sea cliffs, such as on Skomer

Breeding

One egg in a burrow, incubated for 36–43 days, and the chick fledges after 34–44 days. Breeding starts at about five years old

Field signs

  • Bill-clattering birds standing outside grassy burrow entrances
  • Fast, whirring flight low over the sea, often in circling 'carousels' above the colony
  • Rafts of small black-and-white birds bobbing off the cliffs
  • In summer, a bright triangular bill with a yellow rosette at the mouth (duller in winter)

Did you know?

  • Skomer's puffin count was 41,605 in 2024 (2% down on 2023), 43,626 in 2025 and a record 52,019 in 2026, while the RSPB says the UK as a whole has lost 23% of its puffins in 20 years.
  • Puffins are on Skomer only from mid-April to late July: the first leave in mid-July and all are gone by the end of the month (Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales).
  • The colourful bill is a summer fashion for breeding; puffins have a duller, greyer face in winter.

Moments worth waiting for

  • Puffin with sand eels June to July, day and dusk
    A puffin lands with a shining row of sand eels dangling from its bill, stops for a moment and vanishes down its burrow.
  • Puffins arriving back April to May, dusk and dawn
    Hundreds of puffins wheel in a great circle above the clifftop before dropping onto the turf.

Photo tip

Skomer's day visitors are on the island from mid-morning, so head for the Wick or the Burrows and sit or lie on the path edge for a low, eye-level view. Puffins are often stationary at burrows, so slow down and let them settle. For the classic bill-full-of-sand-eels shot use 1/1000 s or faster and expose for the black-and-white plumage, not the sky. Keep any drone at home.

Be a good naturalist

Stay on the marked paths at all times: the turf is riddled with burrows, and a careless step can collapse a nest with an egg or chick. Do not approach the birds or crowd the burrows, and follow the wardens' advice. Never use drones or playback on a seabird colony.

The law

Protected as a wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Skomer is a National Nature Reserve and a Special Protection Area for its seabirds

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