puffin

American  

[puhf-in] / ˈpʌf ɪn /

noun

• puffins
  plural

1. any of several alcidine sea birds of the genera Fratercula and Lunda, having a short neck and a large, compressed, grooved bill, as F. arctica Atlantic puffin, of the North Atlantic.

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puffin British  

/ ˈpʌfɪn /

noun

1. any of various northern diving birds of the family Alcidae (auks, etc), esp Fratercula arctica ( common or Atlantic puffin ), having a black-and-white plumage and a brightly coloured vertically flattened bill: order Charadriiformes

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• puffins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of puffin

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English poffoun, poffin, puffon (compare Anglo-Latin poffo, puffo ); origin uncertain

Explanation

A puffin is a black and white seabird with a bright orange beak and matching feet. Most puffins live in the northernmost parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Puffins belong to the family of birds known as auks. While puffins' coloring, proximity to the ocean, and fondness for fish make them similar to penguins, the two birds have some major differences. Penguins, which don't fly, have heavy bones that help them swim. Puffins, on the other hand, have hollow bones that assist them in soaring through the air. And while penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, puffins are only found in the Northern Hemisphere.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

puffin puffins

But when they googled “things to do” near Acadia and came upon a puffin photograph and a listing for this tour, they were hooked.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Once people get to know the puffin and the puffin story, she says, it almost certainly increases their interest in bird conservation in general.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Footage of a puffling - a baby puffin - bred on the Copeland Islands off the County Down coast has been captured for the first time.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

The second category of birds feature: the Atlantic puffin, the barn owl, the common kingfisher, the Eurasian curlew, the great spotted woodpecker, and the white-tailed eagle.

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

The black-and-white puffin turned red in the face.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Those include events called ocean heat waves—hotter than normal currents, related to climate change, that can radically change the mix of fish available for puffins to feed on.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Attempts to attract puffins to Lighthouse Island included setting up fake "decoy" puffins, and a solar powered speaker system broadcasting its call.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

There are now around 30 breeding pairs of puffins, which is being seen as a real success story.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

The park, a one-hour bush-plane flight from Anchorage, is known for its abundance of brown bears, horned puffins and critically endangered beluga whales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

“Which we’d be able to see if we compared the puffins to the gull.”

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt