Puffin
Fratercula arctica
Length 30cm

Endearing and unmistakable seabird, often allowing close and excellent views at colonies. Has mainly black upperparts but dusky white face and white underparts. Legs orange-red and bill huge and flattened, marked with red, blue and yellow. Winter adult and juvenile have grubby-looking faces and smaller, duller bills. Comes ashore only during breeding season from May to August. Nests in burrows on sloping, grassy cliffs and islands, usually in large colonies. In June and early July, returns to burrows carrying several fish, usually sandeels, in bill. Numbers and range reduced in recent years but still locally common in N and W Britain and Ireland. Spectacular colonies on Hermaness and Noss, both on Shetland, and on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire. Utters strange, groaning calls.