This small seabird has the charm of a cartoon character and the diving skills of a deep-sea explorer. At first, it looks like it’s wearing a tuxedo, with a crisp white belly, black back and head, and bright orange legs and feet. Its most famous features are the thick, colorful bill and the small dark “horns” above each eye, which give the bird its name. During the breeding season, the bill becomes a bold mix of yellow, orange, and red, like a tiny striped parrot beak, and a fleshy bump above the eye stands out like a raised eyebrow.

Horned puffins live in the cold northern Pacific, especially along the coasts and islands of Alaska and eastern Russia. They spend most of their lives far out at sea, floating on the waves and diving for fish in cold water. In spring and summer, they come ashore to raise their young. Instead of building elaborate nests, horned puffins use cracks in cliffs, rocky crevices, or short burrows on steep, grassy slopes. Their colonies are lively and noisy, with birds shuffling on the rocks, flapping into the air, and switching places with their partners at the nest. Even though they walk in a funny way and have short wings, they are skilled flyers once in the air, beating their wings quickly to travel between the sea and the shore.

When underwater, the horned puffin becomes a skilled hunter. It dives below the surface and uses its wings like flippers, moving through the water to chase small fish such as sand lance and capelin. Its beak is shaped so it can hold several fish at once, thanks to spines on its tongue and upper bill. This lets the puffin catch more fish on each dive and bring them back to its chick, almost like carrying a bunch of silver pencils.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Canada

2020

Japan

2020

Non-Breeding

Russia

2020

Eastern Asian Russia

United States

2020