Justification This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Family/Sub-family Alcidae

Species name author (Linnaeus, 1758)

Taxonomic source(s) AERC TAC (2003), AOU checklist (1998 + supplements), Cramp and Simmons (1977-1994), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

5,700,000 - 6,000,000

unset

1,620,000 km²

No

Range & population The Atlantic Puffin can be found throughout the North Atlantic Ocean, from north-west Greenland (to Denmark) to the coastline of Newfoundland (Canada) in the west, and from north Norway down to the Canary Islands, Spain in the east²¹.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: Behaviour Atlantic Puffins are pursuit-divers that catch most of their prey within 30 m of the water surface¹. They are capable of diving to 60 m, although they usually forage at depths less than 30 m^1,2. Birds gather on the water around nesting sites, sometimes for several days, before taking up residence on land³. They are frequently kleptoparasitised by Kittiwakes⁴. Breeding females make a greater contribution to feeding chicks than do males, whereas males spend a greater proportion of time at the breeding burrow⁵. Diet They prey on 'forage' species, including juvenile pelagic fishes, such as herring Clupea harengus, juvenile and adult capelin Mallotus villosus, and sandeel Ammodytes spp.⁸. At times, they also prey on juvenile demersal fishes, such as gadids^7,9,10. Sandeels usually form the majority of the prey fed to chicks^{10,11,12,13,14}, and many chicks starve during periods of low sandeel abundance¹⁰, although there are exceptions, such as at Skomer Island in 1969 when sprat made up the majority of the diet fed to chicks¹⁴. Foraging range This is a relatively wide-ranging species. When feeding chicks, birds generally forage within 10 km of their colony, but may range as far as 50 to 100 km or more^6,7. A boat transect run on one day in 1970 found that 85% of all birds seen were concentrated within just 3 km of the colony³, but other studies have found peaks in the density of foraging birds at up to 40 km distance from the colony^3,15,16,17. Similarly, surveys at the Isle of May, Scotland, suggest that birds forage close to the breeding colony, but also at other sites up to 40 km away ^3,18. Various studies^3,14,19,20, based on different breeding colonies, have estimated the theoretical maximum foraging radius at anywhere from 32 km¹⁴ to 200 km²⁰..

References 1. Piatt & Nettleship (1985). 2. Burger and Simpson (1986). 3. BirdLife International (2000). 4. Camphuysen et al (2007). 5. Creelman and Storey (1991). 6. Harris (1984). 7. Rodway and Montevecchi (1996). 8. Barrett et al. (1987). 9. Harris and Hislop (1978). 10. Martin (1989). 11. Hislop and Harris (1985). 12. Harris and Wanless (1986). 13. Harris and Riddiford (1989). 14. Corkhill (1973). 15. Webb et al. (1985). 16. Stone et al. (1992). 17. Stone et al. (1993). 18. Wanless et al. (1990). 19. Pearson (1968). 20. Bradstreet and Brown (1985). 21. del Hoyo et al. (1996)

Further web sources of information

Detailed species account from Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status (BirdLife International 2004)

Text account compilers Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Rob Calvert (BirdLife International), Jonathan Ekstrom (BirdLife International)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Fratercula arctica. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/7/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

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