During the winter, Puffins often live a solitary life or in small groups, never setting foot on ground but living totally at sea. But during spring as the warm breezes blow, they begin their journey back to their nesting ground, the same one where they were born. Arriving at the shore, they may spend a few days still in the water, congregating with others and possibly locating their mate whom they may not have seen since last year. Finally, the Puffins decide it is time to become land animals once more. They go find their nesting place from last year, meeting their mate there if they had not had a water rendezvous a few days earlier.
Puffins usually keep the same mates for life.
Puffins breed when they become five years old. If a Puffin is at the age to begin breeding, they will seek out a mate from the other young Puffins or take an older mate whose previous partner had died. Atlantic and Tufted Puffins dig burrows underground, about 2 feet in length for their nest, using their beaks to dig and their webbed feet to kick the dirt out. The Horned Puffin prefers rocks or a high cliff to lay their eggs. The mated pair begin a courtship ritual, affectionately tapping their beaks together as well as displaying other breeding rituals.