Tufted Puffin

The Tufted Puffin is the largest of the puffin species and one of the most striking seabirds of the North Pacific, instantly recognizable in breeding season by its long, pale golden-yellow tufts of feathers sweeping back from behind each eye. The body is almost entirely sooty black, a marked contrast to the black-and-white pattern of its Atlantic relative, and the bill is a deep, laterally flattened orange-red, giving the face a bold, dramatic look.

Outside the breeding season, the ornamental tufts are shed, the bill becomes smaller and duller, and the face darkens, so that non-breeding birds look considerably plainer than the flamboyant summer adults.

Key field marks

• Nearly all-black body plumage (unlike the white-bellied Atlantic Puffin)
• Long, pale yellow head tufts in breeding adults, sweeping backward
• Large, deep orange-red bill
• White facial disc contrasting with the dark body

Similar species

• Horned Puffin shares North Pacific range but has a white belly and breast, plus a small dark "horn" above the eye rather than long tufts.
• Atlantic Puffin does not overlap in range and has a white underside, unlike the all-dark Tufted Puffin.
• Non-breeding and juvenile Tufted Puffins lack tufts and have duller bills, superficially resembling large dark auklets.

Tufted Puffins breed on grassy or vegetated cliff tops and islands around the North Pacific rim, from California and the Aleutian Islands through Alaska and across to the Russian Far East and Japan. They dig burrows in soil on cliff tops and slopes, similar to their Atlantic relative, but favor the colder, more productive waters of the North Pacific.

Outside the breeding season, birds disperse widely over open North Pacific waters, sometimes far offshore, and southern populations have experienced notable range contraction in recent decades linked to changing ocean conditions.

Behavior

Strong underwater swimmers, Tufted Puffins pursue fish and invertebrates by "flying" through the water with their wings, often diving to considerable depths in productive coastal waters.

Voice

A low, growling call is given at the burrow entrance and underground; birds are generally silent while at sea.

Feeding

Diet includes small schooling fish, squid, and various invertebrates, with adults carrying multiple fish crosswise in the bill back to chicks, aided by backward-facing spines on the tongue and palate.

Nesting and breeding

Pairs excavate deep burrows in soil, sometimes reusing the same burrow across years; a single egg is incubated by both parents, and the chick fledges independently, typically departing the burrow at night.