Globe âș Birds âș Atlantic puffin
Atlantic puffin migration Fratercula arctica
ⶠFollow the Atlantic puffin across the big globe
Press ⶠto play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
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| Scientific name | Fratercula arctica |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 55 cm |
| Adult weight | 376 g (adult) |
| IUCN status | Vulnerable |
| Records mapped | 221,148 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q26685 (CC0).
When does the Atlantic puffin arrive in the UK?
A summer visitor in the records: sightings rise sharply from mid May, are near their peak by early June, and fall away after late August.
Bars: this speciesâ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 91,057 UK records. Weekly counts from the GBIF occurrence search API (country=GB). Dates are read from records, not from a survey, so treat them as a guide.
When do they arrive in and leave the UK? â
Migration in the data
221,148 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records stays between 56°N and 64°N all year: the shift is small at this scale.
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 59°N | 0% |
| February | 58°N | 0% |
| March | 59°N | 0% |
| April | 60°N | 0% |
| May | 62°N | 0% |
| June | 63°N | 0% |
| July | 63°N | 0% |
| August | 64°N | 0% |
| September | 63°N | 0% |
| October | 58°N | 0% |
| November | 56°N | 0% |
| December | 56°N | 0% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the Atlantic puffin
The Atlantic puffin, also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin, are found in the northeastern Pacific. âŠ
From the Wikipedia article âAtlantic puffinâ (revision 1375007520), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=2481353&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.