Atlantic Puffin

Your Gift in Action

Your gift will conserve critical habitats and ensure a future for species at risk. It will also build healthier, more resilient ecosystems that provide essential benefits and services to people and their communities, while countering the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Since 1962, NCC has brought Canadians together to conserve and restore more than 15 million hectares, coast to coast to coast. But we must do more faster and accelerate the pace of conservation. Every gift and donation counts.

Atlantic Puffin

The official bird of Newfoundland and Labrador, Atlantic puffins are one of three species of puffin and the only one that lives in the Atlantic Ocean. Measuring about 25 centimetres in length, their body shape and webbed feet have adapted for diving and swimming under water. Atlantic puffins feed on small fish and can dive up to 60 metres when hunting them; they can hold up to 61 fish in their bill at once.

During breeding season, their plumage is black and white, and their bill is black, yellow and orange. In winter, their plumage turns drab, and their faces get darker, especially around the eyes. In late winter/early spring, Atlantic puffins become temporarily flightless while new tail and wing feathers replace their old feathers.

In Canada, Atlantic puffins breed on the islands and sea cliffs off the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. Their populations declined substantially in the early 1900s due to hunting and unregulated egg collecting. Today, they’re protected but they still face threats from changes to their food supply caused by climate change-related ocean warming.

Globally, Atlantic puffins are considered a vulnerable species. With this symbolic gift of Atlantic puffin habitat, you can help ensure the survival of this bird.

Photo 1: Photo by John E. Marriott. Photo 2: Photo by John E. Marriott. Photo 3: Photo by Paul Turbitt. Photo 4: Photo by Bill Caulfeild-Browne