Puffins are usually found hundreds of miles from land off the coast of New England, Greenland, and Scandinavia. They are almost always seen singly or in pairs, but during the breeding season most puffins join together in huge colonies that can consist of thousands of puffins. Once puffins find a mate they usually stay together for life. Therefore the only puffins looking for a mate are the younger ones that have come to breed for the first time.

Once a mate is found the pair immediatly begin rubbing beaks and cooing at each other before they mate and go inland to lay the egg. Puffins usually only have one egg but there are always exceptions. If they don't find a suitable place to lay the egg the puffins have to make one themselves. They dig until they have about a six foot long tunnel leading to a small chamber. Often while the female incubates the egg the male brings her presents ;usually grass or feathers. Often the female will begin to get restless in the small chamber, so the male takes over the resposibility of incubating the egg while his mate gets a break.

When the chick hatches, both male and female will assist in feeding the baby. The only real threat to their baby's survival are predatory gulls which can swoop down and pick up a chick in an instant. Once the baby puffin is ready to leave it's parents, he must make his way to the sea. However, to keep away from gulls the chick must leave under the cover of night. He can't fly yet so he gets around by swimming. The next year it returns to the colony but probably won't breed for another two to three years.

During the breeding season there is a constant flow of puffins to the fishing grounds as they try to find food for their chicks and their mates. It's favorite food is the sand eel which it catches by diving into the water at great speeds. Thanks to it's wings the puffin can dive to great depths to catch it's prey.