Did you know that Washington State has native puffins? The Tufted Puffin is identified as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need and as a Priority Species in Washington State. Great efforts are being taken by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to conserve and protect the few breeding pairs of Tufted Puffins that still exist here.
The Tufted Puffin is a type of seabird that spends the majority of their life in the open ocean. It is rare to see them from shore. As their numbers dwindle, sightings are becoming even more scarce in the Puget Sound area. Tufted Puffins can hold up to 20 fish in their bill at once, a useful skill for bringing back food for their babies. Tufted Puffins eat fish, squid and krill, all the while underwater!
Juvenile Tufted Puffins live at sea until they are three years old. During the winter, they migrate through the North Pacific and south to Japan and California. They then return to the same cliffs where they hatched in order to build nests and breed. To nest, the puffins dig out five-foot deep burrows into cliff edges.
Only during breeding season do they grow the fancy plumage of long, corn-silk colored feathers on either side of their head. They are adorable, with dark bodies, white faces and red eyeliner. They have large, orange bills, and their call sounds like a toad!
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife states that the reason for the Tufted Puffin’s severe population decline is unknown. Climate change and over-fishing have substantially contributed, and puffins have historically been over-hunted by early settlers, with past humans even having decimated their natural habitat.
Washington State dedicated 36,000 acres for aquatic reserves. This includes tidelands, small islands, seafloor habitats and the largest kelp forest in all of Puget Sound. Specifically, the Protection Island Reserve is home to one of the last two nesting colonies of Tufted Puffins in this region, with 70% of the Washington puffin population on this island.
Tufted Puffins are too precious to go extinct. Help save endangered birds!
