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Auks

Rhinoceros Auklet

Nashornalk

Cerorhinca monocerata

Auks10 photosFirst seen: 10 August 2026
Rhinoceros Auklet

The Rhinoceros Auklet is a stocky Pacific seabird related to puffins. Breeding adults have an orange bill with a small horn and white facial plumes. It dives using its wings and catches schooling fish close to the coast. Several fish can be held crosswise in the bill and carried back to a chick. The species nests in burrows and usually returns to colonies after dark.

ID tip: Breeding adults show a thick orange bill with a small upright horn and two pale facial plumes. The plain grey body and heavy bill separate it from slimmer, black-and-white murres and guillemots.
First seen: 10 August 2026 · Port Townsend–Coupeville Ferry · 10 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
32–38 cm
Wingspan
56–61 cm
Regional status
Year-round resident (Pacific Northwest, USA)
Conservation
Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 27 August 2026
Habitat
Inshore Pacific waters, rocky islands and coastal breeding colonies
Diet
Small schooling fish, squid and crustaceans
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

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Complete photo archiveAll 10 published photographs of this species, including the selected main gallery.Open all 10 photos in the archive →
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