Tufted Puffin
Fratercula cirrhata

While the tufted puffin enclosure is right next to the penguin exhibit in the Kovler Penguin/Seabird House, the species occupy habitats a world apart
in the wild. In contrast to their Southern Hemispheric counterparts, tufted puffins live north of the Equator, nesting on shores lining the Pacific Ocean, from California through Alaska and Japan to northeast Asia.

The species derives its name from the tufts of yellow feathers that adorn the birds’ heads during breeding season. Seemingly slicked back, this avian coiffure attracts the attention of potential mates, as does the bird’s whitened face and stout beak, which displays bright red and yellow hues.

Males and females rear young cooperatively, hunting fish in shifts and digging deep burrows for nesting (artificial burrows are provided at the Kovler Penguin/Seabird House). The puffin beak has adapted to storing large amounts of prey to take back to the chicks; a spiky surface on the roof of their beak enables them to clutch minnows with their tongue as they snap up new ones. Puffins returning to the nest are often seen holding 10 fish at a time and some have been observed with as many as 60 in beak.

While they breed on land, the birds spend the rest of the year living on the ocean’s surface. Waterproof feathers protect them from the elements and specialized wings enable them to dive through the water for prey as well as fly above it. The tufted puffin can even drink seawater, excreting salt through specialized glands in the eyes, nose and mouth. This life aquatic only lasts until the bird’s tufts begin to reappear, however, signaling breeding season and a return to land.