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T H E S C O T T I S L A N D S
Tufted Puffin
(Fratercula cirrhata)
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Tufted Puffin |
Characteristics
The tufted puffin is a beautiful and ornate seabird. At 780 grams, it is a large member of the Alcidae family, and a medium-sized bird overall. It is mostly black with a white belly. The puffin is most notable for its beautiful plumes, or tufts, and large, bright yellow bill. Some adults have a white, triangular face patch, while others have a darker face. Juveniles look similar to the adults but the bill is smaller and darker. Tufted puffins are diurnal, or active at the colony in the daytime.
Breeding and Feeding
The tufted puffin is a pelagic bird that comes ashore only to breed. It breeds in colonies on isolated islands, where many birds gather to raise their chicks. To nest, they dig burrows with their bill and feet, or nest in crevices in shoreline rocks. In the burrow, the female lays a single white egg in June. The nest chamber is usually well lined with dry grasses and other vegetation or feathers. Both parents incubate the egg for about 45 days. When the chick has hatched, both parents feed it each day. They may bring the chick a billfull of food once or several times daily. The adults feed mainly on zooplankton, but feed the chick small forage fish of which sandlance is the most important. The chick fledges after 40 days or more in the burrow.
Status
Tufted puffins are distributed in the northern Pacific Rim. About 70,000 tufted puffins breed on the Scott Islands. This is 90% of the entire national population, or 2% of the global population. Most of them, or about 30,000 pairs, breed on Triangle Island, making it the single largest tufted puffin breeding colony in BC. During the winter, the tufted puffin is distributed mainly on the outer coast; some birds stray to the inner coast. The tufted puffin is blue-listed in BC. This designation means the species is not immediately threatened, but of concern because of characteristics that make it particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events.
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