Population status

Atlantic Puffin
(Fratercula arctica)

Atlantic Puffins are censused through Environment Canada’s Seabird Colony Counts at a number of large breeding colonies across Atlantic Canada and Quebec. These surveys have documented variable population trends. At Gull Island, Witless Bay, Newfoundland, puffin abundance increased by >100% between 1973 and 2003, but farther north in the Gannet Islands, Labrador, abundance decreased slightly over a similar time period. Colonies on the north shore of the St. Lawrence decreased through the 1990s (Lowther et al. 2002), and are currently below levels seen in the 1970s. Overall, however, Atlantic Puffins in Canada have exhibited moderate increases in abundance since about 1970. However, because current information is lacking at some colonies, the assessment is considered only moderately reliable.

Analysis of Seabird Colony Counts

Additional information on: Analysis of Seabird Colony Counts

References

• Gaston, A.J., D.F. Bertram, A.W. Boyne, J.W. Chardine, G. Davoren, A.W. Diamond, A. Hedd, W.A. Montevecchi, J.M. Hipfner, M.J.F. Lemon, M.L. Mallory, J.-F. Rail and G.J. Robertson. 2009. Changes in Canadian seabird populations and ecology since 1970 in relation to changes in oceanography and food webs. Environmental Reviews 17:267-286.
• Lowther, P.E., A.W. Diamond, S.W. Kress, G.J. Robertson and K. Russell. 2002. Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Lowther, P.E., A.W. Diamond, S.W. Kress, G.J. Robertson and K. Russell. 2002. Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)
• Wilhelm, S.I., J.J. Schau, E. Schau, S.M. Dooley, D.L. Wiseman, and H.A. Hogan. 2013. Atlantic Puffins are attracted to coastal communities in Eastern Newfoundland. Northeastern Naturalist 20:624-630. Wilhelm, S.I., J.J. Schau, E. Schau, S.M. Dooley, D.L. Wiseman, and H.A. Hogan. 2013. Atlantic Puffins are attracted to coastal communities in Eastern Newfoundland. Northeastern Naturalist 20:624-630. (Link)