What do you call a baby puffin?

Puffins are any of three small species of auks in the bird genus 'Fratercula' with a brightly coloured beak during the breeding season. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water.

They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crevices among rocks or in burrows in the soil. Two species, the tufted puffin and horned puffin, are found in the North Pacific Ocean, while the Atlantic puffin is found in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Puffins form long-term pair bonds or relationships. The female lays a single egg, and both parents incubate the egg and feed the chick or 'puffling'. The incubating parent holds the egg against its brood patch with its wings.

The chicks fledge at night. After fledging, the chicks spend the first few years of their lives at sea, returning to breed about five years later. Puffins in captivity have been known to breed as early as three years of age

Although the puffins are vocal at their breeding colonies, they are silent at sea. All puffin species have predominantly black or black and white plumage, a stocky build, and large beaks.

They shed the colourful outer parts of their bills after the breeding season, leaving a smaller and duller beak. Their short wings are adapted for swimming with a flying technique under water. A significant decline in numbers of puffins in Shetland wetlands is worrying scientists, as of 2019.