Tufted Puffin

Tufted Puffin
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Alcidae Genus: Fratercula Species: cirrhata
Binomial name
Fratercula cirrhata

The Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata is a medium-sized pellagic seabird about 30 cm in length and weighing about three quarters of a kilogram. It mostly black with a white belly and facial patch, and a very large bill. The yellow tufts for which it is named are on the side of the head.

Tufted Puffins can be found throughout the the northern Pacific Ocean. Their diet is almost exclusively fish, which they catch by diving from the surface.

Breeding takes place in on isolated islands: more than 25,000 pairs have been recorded in a single colony off the coast of British Columbia. The nest is usually a simple burrows dig with the bill and feet, but sometimes a crevice between rocks is used instead. It is well lined with vegetation and feathers. A single egg is laid, usually in June, and incubated by both parents for about 45 days. Fledglings leave the nest at between 40 and 55 days.