The Four Keys to ID
- Size & Shape
A stocky, football-sized seabird with a very short neck, large head, broad wings, enormous bill (especially during the breeding season) that is laterally flattened, short tail, rather short legs, and large, webbed feet.
Relative Size
Larger than a Horned Grebe, smaller than a Common Murre.
crow-sizedMeasurements
- Both Sexes
- Length: 14.2-15.8 in (36-40 cm)
- Weight: 18.3-35.3 oz (520-1000 g)
© Matt Brady / Macaulay Library
- Color Pattern
Adults in breeding plumage are blackish, with a white mask, long yellow plumes that extend from eye to nape, and orange-and-yellow bill. Adults in nonbreeding plumage are paler sooty gray, and the bill becomes smaller with a grayish base, with only a trace of yellow remaining behind the eye. Immature similar to nonbreeding adult but with smaller, all-gray bill.
© Andrew Spencer / Macaulay Library - Behavior
Tufted Puffins forage by "flying” underwater, using their wings like fins to chase prey, which it grasps with the bill and consumes underwater. Usually forages solitarily for most of the year, though may concentrate where prey is abundant or near the breeding grounds.
- Habitat
Nests in burrows on grassy cliffs by the sea in North Pacific, often on offshore islands. Most of the year, Tufted Puffins forage in deep open waters of the central North Pacific, very far from land. During the breeding season occurs in nearshore waters and over the continental shelf.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay Library
Regional Differences
Tufted Puffins nest in colonies on steep rocky islands, usually in grassy turf on slopes, sometimes in crevices among stones. They typically dig burrows into the soil for nesting. During the breeding season, Tufted Puffins forage relatively near the nest site, though some may commute over 60 miles to productive foraging grounds over the continental shelf. After nesting, adults disperse to sea, with most of the population wintering over very deep water far out in the central North Pacific. Juveniles also winter there, and because they do not breed until their third year, may remain on the open ocean for two more years.
