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Auks

Horned Puffin

Hornlund

Fratercula corniculata

Auks20 photosFirst seen: 23 August 2026
Horned Puffin

The Horned Puffin breeds in crevices and cavities on rocky islands and cliffs around the North Pacific. It flies underwater with its wings to pursue fish and can carry several prey items crosswise in its bill. In breeding plumage the white face, yellow-and-red bill and small dark horn above the eye stand out against the black back and white belly.

ID tip: The white belly and white breeding face separate it from the dark-bodied Tufted Puffin. At close range, look for the small black horn above the eye and the yellow base to the large red bill.
First seen: 23 August 2026 · Kenai Fjords · 20 photos in the collection.

Places in my records

Locations where this species is supported by a dated first record, an unambiguous single-place outing or a reviewed assignment.

Family
Auks (Alcidae)
Length
32–41 cm
Wingspan
56–58 cm
Regional status
Summer visitor (Alaska, USA)
Conservation
Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 27 August 2026
Habitat
Rocky islands and sea cliffs, feeding over open North Pacific waters
Diet
Small fish, squid and marine invertebrates
Built from verified occurrence records, not drawn by hand. Core range = the countries holding 99% of all records; the rest are scattered or vagrant records. Record counts track where people watch birds as much as where the birds are, so the map shows presence, not abundance. Data: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). Basemap: Natural Earth.

Selected photographs

Horned PuffinHorned PuffinHorned PuffinHorned PuffinHorned PuffinHorned PuffinHorned PuffinHorned Puffin
Complete photo archiveAll 20 published photographs of this species, including the selected main gallery.Open all 20 photos in the archive →
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