In addition to the Atlantic Puffin, there are three other species recognized as Puffins:
 |
| Horned puffin on Duck Island, Alaska. Photo by T. Van Pelt, courtesy USGS. |
Horned
Puffin Fratercula corniculata
Horned Puffins are so-named for the hardened flesh that rises above the eyes in a thin vertical line toward the skull crown. Horned Puffins share very similar appearance and life-history traits with the Atlantic Puffin, however Horned Puffins have a larger bill, yellow towards the base and red towards the tip. Horned Puffins are widespread across the Pacific, breeding in summer along the coasts of Siberia and the eastern edges of the Bering Peninsula, across to southwestern Alaska and the Aleutian Archipelago. They winter at sea south of this breeding range. For more information about Horned Puffins, visit the USGS Seabirds Site.
Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrhata
 |
| Tufted Puffins. |
Pronounced feathers extending from above
and behind the eye down to the nape of the neck lend the tufted appearance
for which this puffin is named. The ‘tufts’ are part of the breeding
ornamentation of this species. Tufted Puffin’s summer and breeding range
overlaps with the Horned Puffin although they winter further south, regularly
occurring along the coast of California and the main Japanese island of
Honshu. This black bird with white cheeks tapering to the rear of the
head is the largest puffin and has life-history traits similar to the
other puffin species. For more information about Tufted Puffins,
visit the USGS
Seabirds Site.
Rhinoceros
Auklet Cerorhinca monocerata
Although this Puffin differs noticeably in
outward appearance from the other three species of puffin (which accounts
for its misnaming), this sooty-brown bird is anatomically still a puffin.
During the breeding season a pale knob projects upward from the base of
the upper mandible giving a Rhinoceros-like appearance to its otherwise
more narrow and shallower bill. This puffin usually comes to land
at night. Range: Breeds sparingly on Aleutian Islands and more abundantly
from Alaska Peninsula south along coast to central California, where its
populations are increasing. Probably winters in inshore and offshore
waters from breeding colonies south to southern California. Also
on northern coast of Asia.
|
puffin@audubon.org |
 Mailing Address: Project Puffin 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, New York 14850 (607)257-7308 |