Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrhata Scientific name definitions

Tufted Puffins are cool. Unlike their familiar brethren—Horned (Fratercula corniculata) and Atlantic (F. arctica) puffins, whose appearances convey comic charm and innocence—Tufted Puffins exude stern confidence. With all-black body plumage, striking white robber's mask, chunky orange bill, and streaming golden head-plumes, this is one member of the auk family whose appearance—like that of a biker in leather regalia—says, “Don't mess with me!” Their status as seabird tough-guys is not unwarranted. Few other seabirds breed over such a vast geographic range and extreme of climatic regimes, from cactus-covered rocks in southern California to frozen cliffs of the coastal Alaskan Arctic. And few other seabirds range so widely at sea, from icy waters of the Chukchi Sea to the warm, subtropical expanse of the Central North Pacific Ocean, and east to west from the California Current to the Kuroshio Current of Japan.

While known for carrying bill-fulls of small fish to young and for breeding on continental-shelf habitats that teem with abundant forage fish such as sandlance (Ammodytes hexapterus) and juvenile pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), this species has many life-history attributes that remind one of the more pelagic shearwaters (Puffinus spp.). Adult Tufted Puffins are the most pelagic of the Alcidae (Bent 1919 Bent, A. C. (1919). Life histories of North American diving birds. United States National Museum Bulletin 107. Close , Kuroda 1955 Kuroda, N. (1955). Observation on pelagic birds of the northwest Pacific Ocean. Condor 57:290-300. Close , Shuntov 1972 Shuntov, V. P. (1972). Seabirds and the biological structure of the ocean. Vladivostok. [Translated from Russian by U.S. Bur. Sport Fish. and Wildl. and Nat. Sci. Foundation, Washington, D.C. (NTIS-TT-74-55032), 1974.]: Far-Eastern Publ. House. Close ), ranging widely from colonies in summer to find fish for their young, but feeding themselves largely on invertebrates, especially squid and euphausiids. During the nonbreeding season, adults migrate far south to oceanic waters of the Central North Pacific, where their diet consists largely of squid, euphausiids, and pelagic fish. Juveniles migrate south to the Central North Pacific after fledging (Shuntov 1972 Shuntov, V. P. (1972). Seabirds and the biological structure of the ocean. Vladivostok. [Translated from Russian by U.S. Bur. Sport Fish. and Wildl. and Nat. Sci. Foundation, Washington, D.C. (NTIS-TT-74-55032), 1974.]: Far-Eastern Publ. House. Close ) and may not return to coastal breeding areas for several years. Thus, the Tufted Puffin, even more so than the Horned Puffin (Piatt and Kitaysky 2002 Piatt, J. F., and A. S. Kitaysky,. 2002. Horned Puffin (Fratercula corniculata). In The Birds of North America, No. 603 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. Close ), is a pelagic species that spends most of its life at great distances from land and has a diet more similar to shearwaters and petrels (Pterodroma spp.) than to most other alcids (Sanger 1987a Sanger, G. A. (1987a). "Trophic levels and trophic relationships of seabirds in the Gulf of Alaska." In Seabirds: feeding biology and role in marine ecosystems. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press. Close , Vermeer et al. 1987b Vermeer, K., S. G. Sealy, and G. A. Sanger (1987). Feeding ecology of Alcidae in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. In Seabirds: Feeding Ecology and Role in Marine Ecosystems (J. P. Croxall, Editor), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. pp. 189-227. Close ).

Wehle (Wehle 1976 Wehle, D. H. S. (1976). Summer food and feeding ecology of Tufted and Horned Puffins on Buldir Island, Alaska-1975. Master's Thesis, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks. Close , Wehle 1980 Wehle, D. H. S. (1980). The breeding biology of the puffins: Tufted Puffin (Lunda cirrhata), Horned Puffin (Fratercula corniculata), Common Puffin (F. arctica), and Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata). Phd Thesis, Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks. Close , Wehle 1982b Wehle, D. H. S. (1982b). Food of adult and subadult Tufted and Horned puffins. Murrelet 63:51-58. Close , Wehle 1982a Wehle, D. H. S. (1982a). Color phases in the downy and juvenal plumages of Tufted Puffins. Condor 84:444-445. Close , Wehle 1983 Wehle, D. H. S. (1983). The food, feeding and development of young Tufted and Horned puffins in Alaska. Condor 85:427-442. Close ), Amaral (Amaral 1977 Amaral, M. J. (1977). A comparative breeding biology of the Tufted and Horned puffin in the Barren Islands, Alaska. Master's Thesis, Univ. of Washington, Seattle. Close ), and Vermeer (Vermeer 1979 Vermeer, K. (1979). Nesting requirements, food and breeding distribution of Rhinoceros Auklets, Cerorhinca monocerata, and Tufted Puffin, Lunda cirrhata. Ardea 67:101-110. Close ; Vermeer and Cullen 1979 Vermeer, K. and L. Cullen. (1979). Growth of Rhinoceros Auklets and Tufted Puffins, Triangle Island, British Columbia. Ardea 67:22-27. Close ; Vermeer et al. Vermeer et al. 1979a Vermeer, K., L. Cullen and M. Porter. (1979a). A provisional explanation of the reproductive failure of Tufted Puffins Lunda cirrhata on Triangle Island, British Columbia. Ibis 121:348-354. Close , Vermeer et al. 1987b Vermeer, K., S. G. Sealy, and G. A. Sanger (1987). Feeding ecology of Alcidae in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. In Seabirds: Feeding Ecology and Role in Marine Ecosystems (J. P. Croxall, Editor), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. pp. 189-227. Close ) conducted the earliest directed studies on Tufted Puffins and collected wholly new information on breeding biology, behavior, chick growth, diets, and habitat use in the Aleutians, Gulf of Alaska, and British Columbia. Much incidental information is also available from early general field investigations of seabird colonies (compiled in Baird and Jones 1983 Baird, P. H. and R. D. Jones. (1983). "Tufted Puffin (Lunda cirrhata)." In The breeding biology and feeding ecology of marine birds in the Gulf of Alaska., edited by P. A. Baird and P. J. Gould, 427-469. Natl. Oceanic Atmos. Admin., OCSEAP Fin. Rep. 45: U.S. Dep. Comm. Close , Byrd et al. Byrd et al. 1993 Byrd, G. V., E. C. Murphy, G. W. Kaiser, A. Y. Kondratiev, and Y. V. Shibaev (1993). Status and ecology of offshore fish-eating alcids (murres and puffins) in the North Pacific. In The Status, Ecology, and Conservation of Marine Birds of the North Pacific (K. Vermeer, K. T. Briggs, K. H. Morgan, and D. Siegel-Causey, Editors). Canadian Wildlife Service, Special Publication, Ottawa, ON, Canada. pp. 176-186. Close ). Several more recent studies have added substantially to our knowledge of Tufted Puffin breeding biology (Boone 1986 Boone, D. L. (1986). Breeding biology and early life history of the Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrhata. Master's Thesis, Oregon State Univ., Corvallis. Close ; Hatch and Hatch Hatch and Hatch 1990a Hatch, S. A., and M. A. Hatch (1990). Breeding seasons of oceanic birds in a sub-arctic colony. Canadian Journal of Zoology 68(8):1664-1679. Close , Hatch and Hatch 1990b Hatch, S. A., and M. A. Hatch (1990). Component of breeding productivity in a marine bird community: Key factors and concordance. Canadian Journal of Zoology 68:1680-1690. Close ; Kitaysky Kitaysky 1996 Kitaysky, A. S. (1996). Behavioral, physiological and reproductive responses of alcids (Alcidae) to variation in food availability. Phd Thesis, Univ. of California, Irvine. Close , Kitaysky 1999 Kitaysky, A. S. (1999). Metabolic and developmental responses of alcid chicks to experimental variation in food intake. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 72:462-473. Close ; Kitaysky and Golubova 2000 Kitaysky, A. S. and E. G. Golubova. (2000). Climate change causes contrasting trends in reproductive performance of planktivorous and piscivorous alcids. Journal of Animal Ecology 69:248-262. Close ; Bertram et al. 2001 Bertram, D. F., D. L. Mackas and S. M. McKinnell. (2001). The seasonal cycle revisited: interannual variation and ecosystem consequences. Prog. Oceanogr. 49:283-307. Close ; Gjerdrum 2001 Gjerdrum, C. (2001). Nestling growth and parental provisioning of Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) on Triangle Island, British Columbia. Master's Thesis, Simon Fraser Univ., Burnaby, BC. Close ) and feeding ecology (Sanger Sanger 1983 Sanger, G. A. (1983). Diets and food web relationships of seabirds in the Gulf of Alaska and adjacent marine areas. U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Ocean. Atmos. Admin., OCSEAP Final Rep. 45 (1986):631-771. Close , Sanger 1987a Sanger, G. A. (1987a). "Trophic levels and trophic relationships of seabirds in the Gulf of Alaska." In Seabirds: feeding biology and role in marine ecosystems. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press. Close ; Baird Baird 1990a Baird, P. H. (1990a). Influence of abiotic factors and prey distribution on diet and reproductive success of three seabird species in Alaska. Ornis Scandinavica 21:224-235. Close , Baird 1991 Baird, P. H. (1991). Optimal foraging and intraspecific competition in the Tufted Puffin. Condor 93:503-515. Close ; Hatch and Sanger 1992 Hatch, S. A. and G. A. Sanger. (1992). Puffins as samplers of juvenile pollock and other forage fish in the Gulf of Alaska. Marine Ecology Progress Series 80:1-14. Close ; Springer et al. 1996 Springer, A. M., J. F. Piatt, and G. van Vliet (1996). Sea birds as proxies of marine habitats and food webs in the western Aleutian Arctic. Fisheries and Oceanography 5:45-55. Close ); in particular, monitoring studies conducted by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on several large colonies provide continuous long-term data on breeding biology and diets (Byrd et al. Byrd et al. 1989 Byrd, G. V., L. Climo and J. P. Fuller. (1989). Results of monitoring studies for puffins in the western Aleutian Islands in summer 1988. Adak, AK: Unpubl. rep., U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Alaska Maritime NWR. Close , Byrd et al. 1991 Byrd, G. V., J. C. Williams and R. Walder. (1991). Status and biology of Tufted Puffin in the Aleutian Islands after a ban on salmon driftnets. Adak, AK: Unpubl. rep. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Alaska Maritime NWR. Close ; Dragoo and Woodward 1996 Dragoo, D. E. and S. Woodward. (1996). Seabird monitoring at Aiktak Island, Alaska, in 1995. Homer, AK: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Rep. Close ; Roseneau et al. Roseneau et al. 2000 Roseneau, D. G., A. B. Kettle and G. V. Byrd. (2000). Barren Islands seabird studies, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Project Fin. rep. Homer, AK: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Alaska Maritime NWR. Close ; Williams and Daniels 2001 Williams, J. C. and J. Daniels. (2001). Biological monitoring at Buldir Island, Alaska in 1999: Summary appendices. Adak, AK: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Close ). The pelagic distribution and ecology of the Tufted Puffin has also been reasonably well documented throughout its range (Kuroda Kuroda 1955 Kuroda, N. (1955). Observation on pelagic birds of the northwest Pacific Ocean. Condor 57:290-300. Close , Kuroda 1960 Kuroda, N. (1960). Analysis of seabird distribution in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 14:55-67. Close ; Shuntov Shuntov 1972 Shuntov, V. P. (1972). Seabirds and the biological structure of the ocean. Vladivostok. [Translated from Russian by U.S. Bur. Sport Fish. and Wildl. and Nat. Sci. Foundation, Washington, D.C. (NTIS-TT-74-55032), 1974.]: Far-Eastern Publ. House. Close , Shuntov 1986 Shuntov, V. P. (1986). "Seabirds of the Sea of Okhotsk." In Seabirds of the Far East., edited by N. M. Litvinenko, 6-19. Far-eastern branch, Vladivostok: Acad. Sci. USSR. Close ; Hunt et al. 1981e Hunt, Jr., G. L., P. J. Gould, D. J. Forsell and H. Peterson. (1981e). "Pelagic distribution of marine birds in the eastern Bering Sea." In The eastern Bering Sea shelf: oceanography and resources, edited by D. W. Hood and J. A. Calder, 689-718. Seattle: NOAA, Office of Marine Pollution Assessment. University of Washington Press. Close , Gould et al. 1982 Gould, P. J., D. J. Forsell, and C. H. Lensink (1982). Pelagic distribution and abundance of seabirds in the Gulf of Alaska and eastern Bering Sea. Migratory Bird Section, National Fisheries Research Center, Anchorage, AK, USA. Close ; Wahl et al. Wahl et al. 1989 Wahl, T. R., D. G. Ainley, A. H. Benedict and A. R. DeGange. (1989). Associations between seabirds and water-masses in the northern Pacific Ocean in summer. Marine Biology 103:1-11. Close , Wahl et al. 1993 Wahl, T. R., K. H. Morgan and K. Vermeer. (1993). "Seabird distribution off British Columbia and Washington." In The status, ecology and conservation of marine birds of the North Pacific., edited by K. Vermeer, K. T. Briggs, K. H. Morgan and D. Siegel-Causey, 39-47. Ottawa: Can. Wildl. Serv. Spec. Publ. Close ; Piatt et al. Piatt et al. 1991b Piatt, J. F., J. L. Wells, A. MacCharles, and B. S. Fadely (1991). The distribution of seabirds and fish in relation to ocean currents in the southeastern Chukchi Sea. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper:21-31. Close , Piatt et al. 1992 Piatt, J. F., A. Pinchuk, A. Kitaisky, A. M. Springer and S. A. Hatch. (1992). Foraging distribution and feeding ecology of seabirds at the Diomede Islands. Anchorage, AK: Final Rep. for Minerals Management Service (OCS Study MMS 92-041). Close ; Gould and Piatt 1993 Gould, P. J. and J. F. Piatt. (1993). "Seabirds of the central North Pacific." In The status, ecology, and conservation of marine birds of the North Pacific., edited by K. Vermeer, K. T. Briggs, K. H. Morgan and D. Siegel-Causey, 27-38. Ottawa, ON: Can. Wildl. Serv. Special Publ. Close ; Piatt Piatt 1993b Piatt, J. F. (1993b). Oceanic, shelf, and coastal seabird assemblages at the mouth of a tidally-mixed estuary (Cook Inlet, Alaska). Anchorage, AK: Final Rep. for Mineral Management Service (OCS Study MMS 93-0015). Close , Piatt 2002 Piatt, J. F. (2002). Response of seabirds to fluctuations in forage fish density. Anchorage, AK: Fin. rep. to Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (Restoration Project 00163M) and Minerals Management Service (Alaska OCS Region). Alaska Sci. Center, U.S. Geol. Surv. Close ; Tyler et al. 1993 Tyler, W. B., K. T. Briggs, D. B. Lewis and R. G. Ford. (1993). "Seabird distribution and abundance in relation to oceanographic processes in the California Current system." In The status, ecology and conservation of marine birds of the North Pacific., edited by K. Vermeer, K. T. Briggs, K. H. Morgan and D. Siegal-Causey, 48-60. Ottawa: Can. Wildl. Serv. Spec. Publ. Close ). For the future, studies of adult survival and recruitment would complement long-term monitoring of populations at key colonies. More attention should be directed toward conservation of dwindling and threatened populations in Japan, California, Washington, and Oregon.