Puffins in Greenland

Since I figured out that there live Puffins here in Greenland, or more specifically the Atlantic puffins, I really wanted to see them. 

Because I have never seen a Puffin before, I decided to join a tour and learn more about them. I also picked out some of my favorite facts about the puffins in Greenland that I wanted to share with you.

After one hour with the boat from Nuuk, we arrived at Puffin Island. We saw plenty of birds flying around, not only Puffins. As you can see in the picture, it’s plenty of wholes in the island that the Puffins have made.

That’s where they live and make nests made of feathers and grass. The puffin mom and puffin dad take turns on incubating the egg and catch fish. It can take around 40 days before the eggs hatch. 

At first, it was hard to see the puffins among all the other birds flying around, but the slightly bigger size and their colorful beaks and feets made them recognizable. We tried to take some pictures of them while flying, but it was very hard. Which is not weird either, considering their speed that can go up to 88 km (55 miles) per hour!

After a while, it seemed like the puffins got used to us and sat down on the mountain, and it got easier to take pictures of them. And I also got to borrow my friends’ DSLR camera so I could take some better pictures of the puffins. The pictures weren’t great because I’m not used to it, but better than my iPhone! 

It was fun to finally see the puffins after talking about them for the last few weeks. They are some cute birds that fascinate me. Here you have my favorite facts about the puffins. 

8 Facts about Puffins in Greenland

1. Their beak gets a grey color in the winter and gets colorful again in the summertime to attract potential mates.

2. There are other species of puffins in addition to the Atlantic puffin, like the horned puffin and tufted puffin, but there are only Atlantic puffins in Greenland.

3. It is not allowed to hunt puffins in Greenland, but it is common to hunt them in Iceland and Faroe Islands.

4. Surprisingly many Greenlanders don’t even know that there are Puffins in Greenland, but neither did I know that we had puffins in Norway, so I don’t blame them.

5. They can dive 60 meters (200 feet) deep and catch and eat fishes like sand eels, capelin, hake, and herring – aka small fish.

6. They can do 400 wing flaps in one minute.

7. Puffins have to do a running start to be able to take off and fly.

8. They lay only one egg per year and it is usually with the same mate every year.

What fact did you find most interesting? Let me know in the comments below!

Are you in Nuuk or going to Nuuk and want to see the puffins as well? Book Puffin safari here!

Puffins are small and fly quickly when you get to close. The photo below is taken by wildlife photographer Tikki Geisler.

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Ina Andersson

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