Birds around Iceland

Iceland is a paradise for birds during summer. A big attraction is the abundance of food in the Icelandic seas, ensuring full bellies! Some species travel thousands of kilometers to nest here in the summer. On the tours with Elding, we see a lot of beautiful seabirds flying around the boat. Some of the birds are residents while others just stop here for the summer, to feed and nest. We will be accompanied by sea birds such as gannets, puffins, guillemots, cormorants, gulls, kittiwakes, arctic terns, and many more. Our trips take us past several islands inhabited by colonies of puffin – a great photo opportunity!

The charismatic puffins arrive in Iceland in April and depart at the end of August. During the breeding season, tours stop by a typical bird-island called Akurey, which is populated by over 15,000 pairs of puffins. They lay one egg per year, and keep the same mate every season. Rearing the chick is shared by both puffin parents. Puffins often live 20 years or more. On our tours, we come extremely close to the island, providing anexcellent photo opportunity for our passengers.

Pictures from the puffinisland Akurey in July 2005 taken from Elding and Elding II.