puffin

/ˈpʌfən/

/ˈpʌfɪn/

Other forms: puffins

A puffin is a black and white seabird with a bright orange beak and matching feet. Most puffins live in the northernmost parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Puffins belong to the family of birds known as auks. While puffins' coloring, proximity to the ocean, and fondness for fish make them similar to penguins, the two birds have some major differences. Penguins, which don't fly, have heavy bones that help them swim. Puffins, on the other hand, have hollow bones that assist them in soaring through the air. And while penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, puffins are only found in the Northern Hemisphere.

Definitions of puffin

1. noun

   any of two genera of northern seabirds having short necks and brightly colored compressed bills
   types:

   Atlantic puffin, Fratercula arctica

   common puffin of the northern Atlantic

   Fratercula corniculata, horned puffin

   northern Pacific puffin

   Lunda cirrhata, tufted puffin

   northern Pacific puffin having a large yellow plume over each eye

   type of:

   sea bird, seabird, seafowl

   a bird that frequents coastal waters and the open ocean: gulls; pelicans; gannets; cormorants; albatrosses; petrels; etc.