Tufted Puffins: Sea Clowns at Risk

Puffin: Species Overview

Tufted Puffin Facts

Scientific Name: Fratercula cirrhata
Range: Northern Pacific
Status: Numbers have declined off of the U.S. Pacific coast and British Columbia.
Cool fact: Puffins are excellent “underwater flyers,” diving for fish within 60 m of the ocean surface.
Global warming impacts: Warmer sea surface temperatures trigger declines in small fish upon which puffins depend for food.
Implications: Puffin declines may be a warning signal of northern Pacific marine ecosystem deterioration.

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The tufted puffin has a bright and humorous appearance. With their orange bills and feet and golden feather tufts wisping behind their heads, they are sometimes called the clown of the sea.

These beautiful foot-long sea birds are "underwater fliers" – more graceful thrusting through the sea than flapping in the air.

Global Warming Threats

Tufted puffins feed on small fish that are sensitive to sea surface temperatures. Scientists have observed that when sea surface temperatures rise, puffins have poorer breeding success.

A study on Triangle Island in British Columbia showed that puffin hatch dates, chick growth, and fledging success decreased with warmer sea surface temperatures.

While the global population of tufted puffins is still quite large, they are declining in southern parts of their range – Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, California and Japan. Global warming is thought to be one stressful factor among others -- oil spills, gill nets, habitat deterioration, competitors and introduced mammal predators on nesting islands.