The birds, which used to live in large numbers on the coast around Plémont, have been placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.
The puffins’ inclusion on the list means that they are now as endangered as the African elephant and more under threat than the humpback whale.
Three other British birds – European turtle doves, Slavonian grebes and pochards – have also been added to the list.
The number of British species on the critical database has now doubled to eight. Another 14 British birds species are classed as ‘near threatened’.
Although puffins can still be seen on the cliffs around Plémont their numbers have plummeted in recent years and it is not known whether any are still breeding in the area.
The general decline in the birds’ population in Jersey is believed to have been caused by climate change, with increasing temperatures forcing the birds to migrate northwards.
Mick Dryden, who runs the Jersey Birds website, said that the decline of Jersey’s population was ‘sad but inevitable’.
He said: ‘A lot of people used to come to Jersey to see the puffins. They usually live on offshore islands so it can be difficult to get to see them.
‘As global temperatures have increased, the seas have warmed and that is affecting the food source for them. One day the puffin population will be extinct in this part of the world, which is sad.’
Martin Harper, the RSPB’s conservation director, said: ‘Today’s announcement means that the global wave of extinction is now lapping at our shores.
‘The number of species facing extinction has always been highest in the tropics, particularly on small islands.
‘But now the crisis is beginning to exact an increasingly heavy toll on temperate regions too, such as Europe.
‘The erosion of the UK’s wildlife is staggering and this is reinforced when you talk about puffin and turtle dove now facing the same level of extinction threat as African elephant and lion, and being more endangered than the humpback whale.’
Although Jersey’s population of puffins has declined, the birds are still common on the island of Burhou, off Alderney.
