By Nicole Strawder
Geographic Range
Fratercula corniculata are found in the Northern Hemisphere, from Oregon and Alaska along the Pacific Coast to Siberia. They winter well out to sea. They are irregular stragglers off the west coast to southern California, mainly in late spring.
Biogeographic Regions:
nearctic 
(native ); palearctic (native ); pacific ocean (native ).
Habitat
Horned Puffins tend to be pelagic birds only coming to shore, in the summer, to breed. They inhabit open ocean habitats and coasts. In addition, puffins can swim and fly, although they tend to spend more of their time swimming as a result of their clumsiness in the air.
Physical Description
(14.08 to 21.12 oz)
Horned Puffins are 15 inches (38cm) in length. They are so named because of a fleshy, horn-like projection near the top of the eye. The head of a puffin is as large as a golf-ball. The eyes are placed closer to the front of the head. Its most unique characteristic is its bill. Puffins have a triangular, colorful bill that is blunt and comes to a curved point. As a result of the colorful bill, puffins have been nicknamed the "sea parrot".
The color of the Horned puffins' crown, nape, throat, and upperparts are black; and the breast, belly and undertail are white. Puffins have dark orange feet, that are webbed in a palmate formation. Puffins have no hind toe.
Horned puffins have evolutionarily adapted to predation by way of camouflage. When puffins are swimming, to predators above them they blend in with the bottom of the sea as a result of their black upperparts. Any predators below have a hard time seeing them because their white stomachs look like a reflection of the sunlight.
There is sexual dimorphism in bill color and size. The female's bill is not as bright as the males, the male's bill is also bigger than the female's. The male puffin's tail however, is duller than the female's. Furthermore, males tend to be bigger in body size.
Some key physical features:
endothermic ; bilateral symmetry .
Reproduction
It takes five years for puffins to reach sexual maturity. When Fratercula coniculata has reached this stage, they return to land in the summer to breed. Horned Puffins are cavity nesters. They tend to build their nests in burrows, or in the crevices in cliffs. Puffins tend to have a monogamous mating system. The pair will usually mate for life unless, after a few copulations, no eggs are produced. Horned Puffins lay only one egg a year. Incubation tends to last 42-47 days. Both parents also incubate the egg by placing it under one wing and leaning their body against it. When the young puffin hatches, the parents take turns protecting and feeding it. About 40 days after the chicks have hatched, they are abandoned by their parents who venture out into sea. Hunger drives the chicks into the ocean in search of food. Once in the water, they do not return to land for 2 years.
Key reproductive features:
iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous .
Behavior
During the winter season, Horned Puffins tend to be solitary. When the puffins congregate, in the summer, they gather in large groups called "rafts". During this time they live and eat in these large groups. In the summer, they breed monogamously. Puffins usually return to the same burrow and nest with the same mate year after year. Puffins are well-suited for swimming underwater, rather than for flying. When underwater, they use their wings to propel them and their feet to maneuver. Puffins are capable of flying, although not very well.
Key behaviors:
flies; motile .
Food Habits
Horned Puffins are capable of diving up to 80 feet into the ocean to find their prey. They tend to be carnivorous mainly eating small fish, like herring, and some invertebrates, such as shrimp. Scientists have been able to count up to 28 fish in a hungry puffin's mouth. This is due to the spines on their tongues and on the roof of their mouths. The spines act as hooks, which better enable the puffins to capture the fish. The method of fish-gathering is as follows: first a fish is caught. When the fish is bitten into, it is killed instantly. The fish is then jerked back over the tongue into fleshy, orange flanges of the rictal rosette. Then another fish is caught by the bill being open just wide enough to grasp the fish, while the first remains wedged in the barely opened proximal end of the mouth. As the puffin catches more fish, they cannot all be held close to the proximal end of the mandible, however the roof of the mouth is furnished with a double row of backward projecting spines that help to keep the fish in position. In addition, puffins use their finger-like tongues to keep the already caught fish close together on the spines.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
None.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Horned Puffins provide humans with a source of food, feathers, and down. Puffins are also used to make clothing. They also are profitable as models for merchandise, i.e. stuffed toys, posters, etc.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List: [link]:
Least Concern.
US Federal List: [link]:
No special status.
CITES: [link]:
No special status.
Fratercula corniculata are affected by oil spills, overfishing, and pollution. The young are threatened as a result of the roads they cross when trying to reach the ocean.
Other Comments
Many people believe puffins are penguins. These are nonetheless two completely different species. Penguins and puffins do have similar body forms such as wings, webbed toes, and tuxedo-like color. Puffins can fly while penguins can not. Puffins also live in the Northen Hemisphere while penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere.
The life expectancy of a Horned Puffin is about twenty to thirty years.
Contributors
Nicole Strawder (author), University of Michigan.
Terry Root (editor), University of Michigan.
