The Atlantic puffin is one of three species of this marvelous seabird. The other two – horned and tufted puffins – live in the North Pacific. The world’s population of common puffins is 10 to 11 million. 60% of them spend their breeding season in Iceland. The largest colony, about four million, nests at Stórhöfði on the southern end of Heimaey. Those grassy mounds are burrows. Their proximity to the water makes them prime puffin real estate. This headland was formed by an eruption about 6,000 years ago.
