Tufted Puffin - - (Fratercula cirrhata)

Wildlife Note Card Photography by Steven Holt

The male of this pair is displaying by throwing his head back and clapping his beak together. Tufted Puffins engage in a variety of breeding displays. They breed in burrows dug on steep seaward hillsides overlooking the Pacific shoreline. They can also be found on islands from Northern California to Alaska and along the Pacific shores of Siberia. Diving from the water's surface, puffins flap their wings for propulsion. They forage for their young by swimming through schools of sardines, smelt, anchovies or other small fish, snapping up the fish until their beaks are full. The population of Tufted Puffins in California has declined due to oil spills and the sharp decline of Pacific sardine stocks accelerated by human overfishing. A total breeding population of about four million is centered in Alaska. After the breeding season, puffins shed the darker portion of their bill, but grow it back by spring.

Special thanks to Keith Iding for scanning the cards.