Puffin Photos (Horned and Tufted Puffins)
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Two types of Puffins in Alaska
Tufted Puffin
Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrhata. © Patrick J. Endres
Two species of puffins live in Alaskan waters:
- Horned
Puffin (Fratercula corniculata)
- Tufted
Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata).
They belong to the
family Alcidae, which includes auks, auklets, murres, murrelets,
and guillemots. Alcids spend most of their lives on the
open sea and only visit land to breed in the summer.
In
Alaska, puffins breed on coastal islands and headlands from
Forrester Island in southeastern Alaska to Cape Lisburne
on the Chukchi Sea Coast. Horned Puffins are more prevalent
farther north than Tufted Puffins.
General Description
Horned Puffin
Horned Puffin Fratercula coniculata. © Patrick J. Endres
The most striking puffin feature is the
large colorful bill. Early sailors dubbed them the "sea
parrot" from their stout bodies, short wings, and their
orange or red webbed feet which are placed far back on their
body. Both males and females have the same markings.
Horned puffins are the species most often depicted on souvenirs.
In summer they have a black back and neck with white on
the sides of the head and on their breast. The white breast
is so distinctive that in one Eskimo language puffins are
called katukh-puk, meaning "big white breast."
The Horned Puffin has a small, fleshy, dark "horn"
above each eye in the summer. The beak is bright yellow
with a red tip. Adults are about 14 inches (36 cm) long
and weigh about 1 1/4 pounds (600 gm).
Tufted Puffins are named for tufts of feathers that curl back from each side of the head. They have dark, black bodies and white faces. They have orange feet,and their bills are red and yellow
Life history
The toes of their webbed feet have sharp claws that are used to scratch out burrows 3 to 4 feet deep into the steep hillsides of their nesting areas. © Patrick J. Endres
Puffins, like many other sea birds, nest
underground. They generally arrive at breeding colonies
in May but arrive later in northern areas due to the lateness
of spring. At rockier sites
where soil is scarce or nonexistent, puffins nest in rocky
slopes or cliff faces. In May, puffins arrive at the nesting
grounds. Both species lay only a single, whitish-colored
egg.
Some banded birds have been found still breeding at 10 years old. Few records of the age of Pacific puffins exist, but an Atlantic puffin is known to have lived 39 years. © Patrick J. Endres
Most birds spend the winter far offshore in the north
Pacific Ocean and do not venture near land. Young puffins
remain on the open sea during the summer of their first
year. When they are 2 years old they visit the colony during
the summer. At 3, puffins are mature enough to breed, but
it is only at 4 that they are certain to breed.
Food habits
Puffins feed in flocks, with fish and zooplankton the mainstay of their diet. While fishing, they dive into the water right from the air continuing their "flight" under the surface where they flap half-folded wings for propulsion using their feet as underwater paddles.. © Patrick J. Endres
Puffins are built for swimming underwater
rather than for flying. They swim underwater using their
wings to propel them and their webbed feet only for maneuvering.
On land, puffins are agile and can stand and walk nimbly
on their toes. It is in the air that the dignified, agile
puffin becomes a bit awkward.
Text by Tom Paul, William A. Lehnhausen, and Susan E.Quinlan,
adapted from ADF&G Wildlife Notebook Series:
State of Alaska Fish and Game notebook series back to top of page
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Puffins belong to the family Alcidae. This family
of birds spend most of their time in the open sea, and come ashore
only to breed.
The puffins large and brightly colored beak and striking black and white markings give it a clown like similarity.
Puffins collect grass to line their nest.
Puffins nest along rocky shores.
Puffins are not great flyers. Their heavy bones make them more suitable as swimmers.
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