Tufted Puffin

Overview

Tufted Puffin: Medium-sized seabird, black overall except for white face and glossy yellow plumes behind eyes. Large bill, mostly bright red with yellow and sometimes green markings. Legs and feet are bright orange. Feeds on fish, crustaceans, mollusks, squid and algae. Strong direct flight.

Range and Habitat

Tufted Puffin: Breeds from northern Alaska south to northern California and spends winters at sea off breeding grounds; also winters in Asia.

INTERESTING FACTS

Tufted Puffins are the size of pigeons, but weigh nearly twice as much.
They were historically hunted for food. In the past, skins were used to make tough parkas worn feather side in.
When taking food to their young, they usually hold about 10 fish in their mouths while returning to the nest, but they have been observed carrying up to 60 fish in their bills at one time.
A group of puffins has many collective nouns, including a "burrow", "circus", "colony", "improbability", and "puffinry" of puffins.

The Tufted Puffin has a large range, estimated globally at 100,000 to 1,000,000 square kilometers. Native to Russian Federation, Japan, the United States and Canada, this bird prefers neritic, oceanic, intertidal, or coastal marine ecosystems as well as rocky areas. The global population of this bird is estimated at 2,400,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Tufted Puffin is Least Concern.