Different Kind of Oregon Coast Flying Fireworks: Adorable Puffins Events at Cannon Beach

Published 06/06/25 at 6:55 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – While Cannon Beach has always been firework-free, there are plenty of aerial wonders in its nearshore water. Indeed, that's the reason the little Oregon coast town doesn't have an explosive holiday. It's got quite a few amazing – and endangered – puffins. (Photo courtesy Friends of Haystack Rock)

So again it's The Great Cannon Beach Puffin Watch from July 1 through July 4, going from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Sponsored by Friends of Haystack Rock, the event offers visitors a chance to observe the remarkable seabirds up close using spotting scopes and binoculars provided at the site. Birding enthusiasts will also be on hand to help locate tufted puffins and share insights about the many seabirds nesting on Haystack Rock.

Friends of Haystack Rock works to protect the intertidal ecosystem and bird populations that inhabit the Marine Garden and Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge at Haystack Rock. The organization collaborates with the Haystack Rock Awareness Program, local partners, and the community to advance conservation efforts.

Black Oystercatcher / Friends of Haystack Rock photo

Haystack Rock serves as a crucial breeding site for tufted puffins in Oregon, with the birds arriving in early April to reclaim their burrows and reunite with their lifelong partners. Over the course of about 16 weeks, puffins establish their nesting grounds, clean out their burrows, and prepare to raise their young. A single egg, roughly the size of a chicken egg, is incubated by both parents for 41 to 54 days before hatching. Pufflings emerge beginning in late June, though they remain tucked inside the burrows until they are ready to fledge. Visitors may spot adult puffins busily flying in and out of their nesting sites, carrying fish to feed their young. After 38 to 59 days, the fledglings leave their burrows under the cover of darkness to avoid predators, heading out to the open ocean where they will spend the winter months.

Tufted puffins face a range of threats, including the ingestion of ocean plastic, entanglement in fishing nets, and predation by introduced species such as foxes and rats. Since the mid-1990s, tufted puffin populations in Oregon and Washington have declined by more than 95 percent. Conservation groups are working to reverse this trend, striving to sustain a viable and resilient puffin population along the coast.

Photo Ram Papish

Visitors to the event may also spot an array of seabirds residing at Haystack Rock, including common murres, pigeon guillemots, cormorants, and black oystercatchers.

The best time to view puffins is between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., said Tiffany Boothe, spokesman for the program.

“Bring binoculars or plan to attend when the Haystack Rock Awareness Program is out with their scopes. View their website for details,” she said. “Scan for these birds along the grassy top half of the rock, often from the middle towards the north side. Search the sky for flying birds! Look for stocky, clumsy, fast flyers with black bodies, white faces, and orange beaks and feet. They flap their wings vigorously.”

Cormorants on Haystack Rock / photo Friends of Haystack Rock

The tufted puffin population the Oregon coast has dwindled by more than 80 percent in recent decades, a decline that remains little known to many coastal visitors. Conservation groups continue to raise awareness about the species’ vulnerability, urging more people to learn about their plight and witness them firsthand. Efforts to restore puffin populations are underway across the West Coast, with organizations working toward stabilizing numbers and ensuring the birds’ long-term survival. In 1998, Oregon’s tufted puffin population numbered nearly 5,000; by 2021, that figure had dropped to just 553.

The Great Cannon Beach Puffin Watch provides a rare opportunity to observe and appreciate this iconic seabird as it navigates its critical breeding season at Haystack Rock. With their striking black-and-white plumage, vibrant orange beaks, and fluttering wingbeats, these birds remain a beloved yet increasingly threatened presence along the Oregon coast.

Bandon and around the Coos Bay-area's Cape Arago are other areas where the feathered cuties touchdown, but they're harder to see. Cannon Beach is the sweet spot.

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