In summer they have a black back and neck with white on the sides of the head and on their breast. The beak is bright yellow with a red tip. Tufted Puffins are named for tufts of feathers that curl back from each side of the head. They have dark, black bodies and white faces. They have orange feet,and their bills are red and yellow.
Puffin bills are larger and more colorful in the summer nesting season than in winter.
Both species shed the bill s outer layers in late summer, which leaves a smaller, drab-colored bill. Also, their bodies are not as distinctly marked with white but tend to be dusky gray. Puffins, like many other sea birds, nest underground. They generally arrive at breeding colonies in May but arrive later in northern areas due to the lateness of spring. The toes of their webbed feet have sharp claws that are used to scratch out burrows 3 to 4 feet deep into the steep hillsides of their nesting areas.