The name "puffin" means "swollen" referring to their plump appearance. This iconic seabird suffered steep declines in the early 20th century due to hunting and commercial exploitation. It recovered in a few areas because of reintroduction programs using decoys to lure individuals back to former breeding colonies. Unfortunately this puffin has suffered recent steep declines in most of its European range including much of Iceland. It is estimated that Iceland holds 60% of the world's population, but breeding has generally failed there every year since 2003. Nevertheless it is still hunted for food locally in Iceland. This species is particularly vulnerable to climate change and declines in fish such as its favored sand eels. It is currently listed as "vulnerable" by IUCN. Birds breeding in Iceland are the nominate race which has relatively shorter wings than those breeding further north. This race ranges from northern Norway to eastern North America. However geographical variation is largely clinal, and boundaries between the named subspecies are somewhat arbitrary. This species is now treated as monotypic by most authorities following a recommendation by Sangster et al. (2005). Canon SX50 HS PowerShot.
References:
BirdLife International. 2017. Fratercula arctica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22694927A117606911. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22694927A117606911.en. Downloaded on 21 September 2018.
Lowther, P. E., A. W. Diamond, S. W. Kress, G. J. Robertson, and K. Russell (2002). Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.709
Nettleship, D.N., Kirwan, G.M., Christie, D.A., Sharpe, C.J., Garcia, E.F.J. & Boesman, P. (2018). Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/54078 on 21 September 2018).
Provencher, Jennifer & Gaston, Anthony. (2012). A Specimen of the High Arctic Subspecies of Atlantic Puffin, Fratercula arctica naumanni, in Canada. Canadian Field Naturalist. 126. 50-54. 10.22621/cfn.v126i1.1297.
Sangster, G., Collinson, J.M., Helbig, A.J., Knox, A.G. & Parkin, D.T. (2005) Taxonomic recommendations for British birds: third report. Ibis 147(4): 821–826.