About 40 days after the chicks have hatched, they are abandoned by their parents who venture out into sea. Hunger drives the chicks into the ocean in search of food. Behavior During the winter season, Horned Puffins tend to be solitary. During this time they live and eat in these large groups. In the summer, they breed monogamously.
Puffins usually return to the same burrow and nest with the same mate year after year.
Puffins are well-suited for swimming underwater, rather than for flying. When underwater, they use their wings to propel them and their feet to maneuver. Habitat Horned Puffins tend to be pelagic birds only coming to shore, in the summer, to breed. They inhabit open ocean habitats and coasts. Positive Horned Puffins provide humans with a source of food, feathers, and down.