Puffins are hard to spot, but a popular bird to look for, at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, Oregon. In early April when puffins show up at Haystack Rock, most have already found their lifelong partners.

Their black, football-sized body is topped by a white face, thick, orange bill …

Puffins On Haystack Rock.


The puffins are most visible and active at Haystack Rock from April through early July. Puffins are visible and active at Haystack Rock and by late August, the puffin chicks will be ready to return to open seas with their parents. This summer, the local Haystack Rock Awareness Program estimates there are only 30. The Tufted Puffins will spend about 16 weeks at the rock. Up close, they are one of nature's most striking birds.

A group of dedicated volunteers come at low tide to setup a perimeter around the pools in order to protect the delicate marine life living there.
The tide at Cannon Beach was so low Wednesday, July 3, 2019, that visitors were able to walk all the way around Haystack Rock for a short period around 7:45 a.m. Beachgoers explored tide … The move into burrows on the NW face of the rock and raise a single "puffling." We are also helping further the study of Tufted Puffins nesting at Haystack Rock.

The Tufted Puffin molts the top layer of its colorful beak every summer after chicks have fledged, marking the end of breeding season —so visitors definitely want to catch the puffins …

Two Tufted Puffins at Haystack Rock Tufted Puffins at Haystack Rock.

Haystack Rock is home to the largest Tufted Puffin breeding colony in Oregon. Use the link above for other parking spots and places to go to photograph the rock. Friends of Haystack Rock presents a photography contest, “Puffins at Haystack Rock.” Photographers are invited to showcase their work while helping to communicate the beauty and value of Haystack Rock by entering.

Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach provides one of the Northwest's most accessible locations to observe puffins nesting in their natural environment. Iconic Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, steps from the Tolovana Inn, provides one of the most accessible locations to observe the comical and versatile puffins nesting in This signage on a staircase approaching the beach shows the colorful birds close-up.

This signage on a staircase approaching the beach shows the colorful birds close-up.

There used to be hundreds of puffins nesting on the rock. Friends of Haystack Rock presents a photography contest, “Puffins at Haystack Rock.” Photographers are invited to showcase their work while helping to communicate the beauty and value of Haystack Rock by entering. Observers were positioned on shore approximately 100 meters northeast of Haystack Rock near the water’s edge. Do you have photos of Haystack Rock? Haystack Rock is a large 235-feet-high basalt sea stack located at Cannon Beach, Oregon.It is protected as a sanctuary for birds and marine creatures. Tufted Puffins, Pigeon Guillemots, Pelagic Cormorants, and Western Gulls nest on the rock.