Horned Puffin

The Horned Puffin fills a North Pacific niche much like that of the Atlantic Puffin, breeding on rocky coasts and islands from Alaska to eastern Russia. Its body plumage closely resembles its Atlantic relative, though it is somewhat larger and shows a distinctive fleshy eye ornament in the breeding season.

• Upperparts are glossy black and underparts clean white, essentially matching the Atlantic Puffin's pattern but on a slightly larger body
• The white face is more sharply demarcated and often shows a more triangular shape than in the Atlantic Puffin
• Flight feathers are short, broad, and rounded, suited to whirring flight and wing-propelled swimming
• Tail feathers are short and squared, contributing to a stocky, compact profile
• Feathers are dense and somewhat stiff, typical of diving auks

• Breeding and non-breeding adults share the same black-and-white body plumage, with seasonal change concentrated in the bill and the fleshy horn above the eye rather than the body feathers
• Non-breeding adults show a duskier face and a less prominent bill
• Juveniles are duller, with a smaller bill and grayer face, lacking the eye ornament
• Sexes are alike in plumage
• A complete molt after breeding renews body and flight feathers, with a flightless period at sea

Horned Puffins breed on sea cliffs, rocky slopes, and offshore islands around the North Pacific, including coastal Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and the Russian Far East, nesting in rock crevices and burrows. Outside the breeding season they range widely over the open North Pacific, wintering far from shore.

This puffin pursues small schooling fish underwater using wing-propelled swimming, much like its Atlantic relative, and can carry several fish at once in its bill to provision a chick. It nests in crevices among boulders or in burrows on grassy slopes, often in mixed colonies with other auks. Its calls are low, growling notes given at the colony, with the bird largely silent while at sea.