Welcome to Puffin Island, formally known as Skomer Island, which lies off the coast of Wales in the southwest of the U.K. If you haven’t been there in person, take a look at this incredible Instagram post, which gives you a flavor of what it’s like. Read on to find out more about this island and the wonderful birds that flock there every year.
About Atlantic Puffins
Atlantic puffin mates strengthen their bond by billing or rattling their beaks together.
©Giedriius/Shutterstock.com
Atlantic puffins are small seabirds with crisp black and white plumage and a large, multicolored bill. They spend most of their time far out at sea. To breed, they come ashore and nest on islands between late April to August. In the US, the rocky islands off the coast of Maine are the best places to see them, but you will need to get there by boat. Most puffins, however, breed in Iceland. Colonies can contain hundreds and even thousands of birds.
Puffin chicks, called pufflings, are raised in burrows dug into the earth. Just one egg is laid at a time, and puffins return to the same partner year after year. They can be seen greeting each other with an adorable bill rub!
A Good News Story
Atlantic Puffins on Machias Seal Island, Maine
©Jessica Lutz/iStock via Getty Images
In a world where we so often hear about wildlife populations declining with dwindling breeding success, Skomer Island stands out as a good news story! This internationally crucial seabird island is home to one of the most important puffin colonies in the UK. Every summer, it welcomes thousands of breeding Atlantic puffins, and 2025 was a record-breaking year. In a May 2025 press release, the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales announced that 43,626 puffins had been recorded on their Skomer Island Nature Reserve. This bucks the trend of decline seen globally in Puffin populations. The success is likely due to the abundance of food (fish) in the surrounding waters and the absence of predators, such as rats, on the island. Skomer truly is a puffin paradise!
