• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Local Navigation
  • Skip to Search
  • Skip to Sitemap
  • Skip to Footer

Tufted Puffin

Fratercula cirrhata ORDER: CHARADRIIFORMES FAMILY: ALCIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Tufted Puffin Photo

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Tufted Puffin is a seabird of the open waters, islands, and coastal cliffs of the north Pacific. It is larger than other puffin species and distinctive in appearance, with a bold white "face-mask" and golden head plumes in the breeding season.

Inside Birding
For complete information on this species, visit The Birds of North America Online.

Appearance

Ducklike
Ducklike
Typical Voice

Adult Description

Stocky, large-headed, dark seabird. Breeding adult all black except for white face and long golden plumes curling over back of head and neck. Bill large and red-orange, with a bright-orange yellow plate over the base. Nonbreeding adult has dark gray face with no head plumes or bill plate.

Immature Description

Resembles nonbreeding adult, with dusky eyes instead of yellow.

Range Map Help

Tufted Puffin Range Map
View dynamic map of eBird sightings

Field MarksHelp

  • Adult
    PopOutZoom In
    Adult
    • © 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology, St. Paul Island, Alaska, June 2000

Similar Species

  • Rhinoceros Auklet has dark face, different head plumes, a white belly, and a much smaller bill.
  • Horned Puffin has white underparts and lacks golden plumes in breeding season.