Fratercula cirrhata (Pallas, 1769)

Scientific Classification

Tufted puffins, scientifically named Fratercula cirrhata, are the largest puffin species.

Adult Size

Adults are around 35 centimeters (14 inches) long, with a similar wingspan, and weigh roughly three-quarters of a kilogram (1.6 pounds).

Size Variation

Individuals from the western Pacific population are somewhat larger than those from the eastern Pacific, and males tend to be slightly larger than females.

Plumage Baseline

Their plumage is mostly black, with a white facial patch.

Bill Characteristics

Like other puffin species, they have a very thick bill, which is primarily red with some yellow and occasional green markings.

Distinctive Tufts

Their most distinctive feature, which gives them their name, is the yellow tufts, called cirri in Latin, that grow annually on both sexes as the summer reproductive season approaches.

Summer Breeding Appearance

In the summer, their feet turn bright red and their face becomes bright white.

Non-breeding Appearance

During the feeding season, the tufts molt off, and their plumage, beak, and legs lose much of their bright color.

Wing Adaptations

Like other alcids, tufted puffins have relatively short wings adapted for diving, underwater swimming, and catching prey, and they cannot glide.

Muscle Adaptations

This adaptation gives them thick, dark, myoglobin-rich breast muscles that support a fast, aerobically strenuous wing-beat rhythm, which they can maintain for long periods of time.

Juvenile Appearance

Juvenile tufted puffins look similar to winter adults, but have a grey-brown breast that shades to white on the belly, and a shallow, yellowish-brown bill.

Visual Similarity To Other Species

Overall, they resemble a horn-less, unmarked rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata).

Breeding Range

During the summer reproductive season, tufted puffins form dense breeding colonies across a range stretching from Washington state and British Columbia, through southeastern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, to Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands, and the entire Sea of Okhotsk.

Range Overlap With Horned Puffins

While they share some habitat with horned puffins (F. corniculata), the tufted puffin's range is generally more eastern.

Southern Nesting Records

Small numbers have been recorded nesting as far south as the northern Channel Islands, off the coast of southern California, but the last confirmed sighting at the Channel Islands was in 1997.

Breeding Site Selection

Tufted puffins usually choose to breed on islands or cliffs that are relatively inaccessible to predators, close to productive waters, and tall enough that they can take off successfully.

Ideal Breeding Habitat

Ideal breeding habitat is steep, with relatively soft soil and grass for digging burrows.

Winter Range

During the winter feeding season, they spend almost all of their time at sea, and their range extends across the entire North Pacific, reaching as far south as Japan and California.