Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, Newfoundland, Canada. 20 June 2015. Common Murre at nesting colony. Uria aalge; Shutterstock ID 1882438741; full: 65050; gl: 65050; netsuite: POI; your: Erin Lenczycki
1882438741

Shutterstock / Gilbert S. Grant

Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

Newfoundland & Labrador


Consisting of four islands in Witless Bay, this reserve is North America's largest Atlantic puffin colony, with more than 260,000 pairs nesting here during the late spring and summer. Every summer, more than a million pairs of birds gather here, including puffins, kittiwakes, storm petrels and the penguinlike murres; the incredible mass of avian life moves like living clouds. Tour boats sail through cold waves to the islands, hugging the shore beneath the cliffs.


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