People throwing Puffins off cliffs in Iceland

September 7, 2025

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On the Vestmannaeyjar islands in Iceland, something unusual happens at the end of every summer: people throw baby puffins off cliffs—but it’s not what it sounds like. In fact, it’s a way to help these young birds survive.

As summer ends, baby puffins, also called pufflings, leave their nests for the very first time. They’re supposed to fly out to the ocean, using moonlight to guide them. But in towns and villages, bright lights confuse them. Instead of heading to sea, many pufflings fly inland, where they can get lost or eaten by predators.

To rescue them, local volunteers and rescue teams go out at night to gather the stranded puffins. Then, they take them to the edge of sea cliffs—and gently toss them off. This gives the pufflings no choice but to start flying and head out to sea, where they belong.

This puffin-saving tradition happens every year and is part of daily life in Vestmannaeyjar, which has the largest puffin colony in Europe. So far this season, over 2,000 pufflings have been saved this way.

About 90% of Atlantic puffins live in Europe, and Iceland and Norway are home to the majority of them. The rest nest in Britain and Ireland.

Thanks to these nighttime efforts, many more baby puffins get a proper start in life—and a safe flight into the wild.

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