Fratercula cirrhata (Pallas, 1769)
Tufted puffin
No Picture Available

Family:  Alcidae ()
Max. size:  max.weight: 779.0 g
Environment:  others; marine; depth range 0 - 59 m
Distribution:  Pacific Ocean and the Arctic. From Alaska, Chukchi and Bering Sea, south to Aleutian Islands, east to California, USA and Canada and west to Japan and Russia. Subtropical to polar.
Diagnosis:  Culmen: 5.84 cm; tarsus: 3.61 cm; wing: 20.055 cm.
Biology:  A large alcid, about 40 cm in length. Plunge diver; continental shelf; <100 km (Ref. 356). Semi-precocial mode of development. Ground nesting species; in burrows. When spotting a threat, adults give out alarm calls to warn chicks who respond by moving to a nearby hiding place. Displays "group flight" behavior. Vulnerable to oil pollution as a piscivore; saw 50% decline in population from 1989 in Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill (Ref. 87784). Captures and eats prey underwater except food carried to chicks. Tends to forage more offshore in shelf and shelf-edge waters than coastally (Ref. 62201).
IUCN Red List Status: (LC); Date assessed: 19 February 2020 Ref. 123251)
Threat to humans: 
Country info:   
 

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