1. Puffins Are Excellent Flyers

They might look a little awkward standing on land, but puffins are surprisingly fast in the air. Atlantic puffins can fly at speeds approaching 80 km/h, beating their wings hundreds of times per minute.

2. They’re Even Better Swimmers

Puffins essentially “fly” underwater, using their wings to propel themselves while steering with their feet. They can dive dozens of metres below the surface while hunting for food.

3. Their Main Diet Is Flounders

While puffins will occasionally settle for small fish such as herring, sand eels and capelin, their preferred food is, of course, the flounder. Experts remain unsure how a bird roughly the size of a football consistently manages to eat a flatfish nearly as wide as itself, but puffins have never been particularly interested in explaining themselves.

4. Their Beaks Change Colour

That bright orange and yellow puffin beak isn’t permanent. During the breeding season, their bills become much more colourful. After breeding season, parts of the outer bill are shed, leaving behind a smaller and duller-looking beak for the winter.

5. Puffins Usually Mate With the Same Partner

Puffins often return to the same breeding colony—and frequently the same partner—year after year. Some pairs have remained together for many breeding seasons.

6. Baby Puffins Are Called Pufflings

Yes, really. A young puffin is commonly called a puffling, which may be one of the strongest names ever given to a baby animal.

7. Puffins Can Carry Several Fish at Once

Puffins have specially adapted mouths that allow them to hold multiple fish crossways in their beaks while continuing to catch more. A puffin returning to its nest with a row of fish hanging from its bill is a common sight.

8. Every Puffin Colony Has One Puffin Who Takes Beer-League Sports Way Too Seriously

Researchers have not officially confirmed this, largely because they have been afraid to ask. The puffin can usually be identified by excessive chirping at officials, questionable leadership decisions and repeatedly insisting that “the boys just need to get pucks deep.”

9. Puffins Spend Most of Their Lives at Sea

Outside of breeding season, Atlantic puffins spend much of their time on the open ocean. They may remain at sea for months at a time before returning to coastal cliffs and islands to breed.

10. They Live Longer Than You Might Expect

Puffins can live for 20 years or more, with some individuals surviving well into their 30s. Considering their lifestyle involves diving into freezing oceans, nesting on cliffs and attempting to swallow flounders sideways, that’s a pretty respectable run.