Horned Puffin
Fratercula corniculata
Limited Knowledge 3
There has only ever been two sightings of a single adult Horned Puffin in 2014 off Collinson Head at Herschel Island. Therefore if you see this species please take a photo and upload it to iNaturalist or send it to yukoncdc@gov.yk.ca. We would like to know if it was a singular bird that got lost or not.
Summary 4
With a large orange and yellow beak, yellow legs and a white face and belly these are a dumpy and striking bird. This marine species can be found along sea coasts on rocky cliffs and offshore islands during breeding, and ranging over adjacent waters usually only to the edge of the continental shelf during non-breeding periods. Its diet is comprised mainly of a wide diversity of fish, supplemented with a significant proportion of squid, crustaceans and polychaetes. Chick diet is captured by monogamous pairs and is primarily the high fat and calorific sandeels and capelin. It obtains most prey by pursuit-diving. Individuals arive at colonies on rocky cliffs, boulder areas and talus slopes in spring, with the start of breeding being variable depending on locality. It is a colonial species with aggregations of varying sizes (del Hoyo et al. 1996).
Behaviour 5
Monitoring these birds is difficult and little is known about their communication. It is clear that horned puffins are not very vocal birds. When it does produce noise it is low pitched and comparative to a groan or growl. In aggressive defense they produce a sound described as "A-gaa-kah-kha-kha" and during head flicking there is a repetative "op-op-op-op." Visual displays are important in pair formation, courtship, and nest defense. Like all birds, horned puffins perceive their environments through visual, auditory, tactile and chemical stimuli.
Conservation status 6
The estimated breeding population for horned puffins today is 1.2 million birds, with most breeding on islands off the coast of Alaska. The largest breeding populations are in the Semidi Islands with 350,000 breeders.
Horned puffin breeding numbers appear to have dropped from 1977 to well into the mid 1990’s. Overwater counts have produced conflicting results, however. Some have have not shown a significant decline, while others estimates have suggested that sea-bird populations, including horned puffins, dropped by 50 percent from 1972 to 1993. One boat-based viewing survey suggested a 79 percent drop in horned puffin populations in Alaska from 1972 to 1998. Horned puffins have been found to carry toxic trace metals, including mercury and cadmium. These are contained in the fish that that puffins eat and have been found in the livers of horned puffins. Also, upon autopsy some horned puffin individuals have been found with PCBs and organochlorine pesticides.
Another major source of mortality in this species is bycatch in fishing gillnets. Losses due to bycatch were most significant in the 1950's through the 1990's, when tens of thousands of puffins were killed by salmon and squid fisheries. Since that time the bycatch has been more carefully monitored and has not led to further significant population decline.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Sources and Credits
- (c) Sarah Kim, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/79803789@N00/2586608112
- Regents of the University of Michigan, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://animaldiversity.org/collections/contributors/usfws/hornedpuffinwinterplum/medium.jpg
- (c) Yukon Conservation Data Centre, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
- Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31059237
- Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31395059
- Adapted by Yukon Conservation Data Centre from a work by (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31395065
More Info
Range Map
iNat Map
| Color | black, grey, orange, white, yellow |
|---|---|
| Animal | Bird |
| Bird | puffin |
