Puffins in peril Pictures - CBS News Puffins in peril A puffin looks around after emerging from its burrow on Eastern Egg Rock off the Maine coast, July 1, 2013. The puffins were nearly wiped out a century ago and 40 years ago biologists launched a re-colonization effort called the Puffin Project by transplanting puffin chicks from Newfoundland to man-made burrows on the island. Occupancy of puffin burrows on Matinicus Rock and at Seal Island, the two largest U.S. puffin colonies, are down by at least a third this season, said Steve Kress, director of the National Audubon Society's seabird restoration program. That likely means many birds died over the winter and others were too weak to produce offspring this season. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty/AP