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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Fratercula corniculata
Horned Puffin

 
Scientific Name: Fratercula corniculata (Naumann, 1821)
English Name: Horned Puffin
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: B-HOPU
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Aves Charadriiformes Alcidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: S2B (Mar 2015)
BC List: Red
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 2 - May be at risk (2005)
Migratory Bird Convention Act: Y
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Most laying mid-June to early July in Alaska. Clutch size 1. Incubation 38-43 days (average 40), by both sexes. Young tended by both parents, fledges in 37-46 days (average 40). Frequently nests in large colony. See Johnsgard (1987).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
Y /
Y /
na /
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Facultative - occasional use
Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Natural / Facultative - occasional use
Ocean / Marine Island / Obligate
Ocean / Pelagic / Facultative - frequent use
Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Facultative - frequent use
Ocean / Subtidal Marine / Facultative - frequent use
Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Cliff / Facultative - frequent use
Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Facultative - frequent use
Subterranean / Sub-soil / Facultative - frequent use
Global Habitat Comments: NON-BREEDING: mostly pelagic (AOU 1983). BREEDING: Nests on rocky coasts and islands, in cliff crevices and among boulders, rarely in ground burrows (AOU 1983). Has attempted breeding in boxes set out for black guillemots in northern Alaska (see Johnson and Herter 1989). Undoubtedly often uses same nest site in successive years.
Food Habits: Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Feeds primarily on small fishes (e.g., sticklebacks, smelt, sand launces); cephalopods, crustaceans, and polychaetes usually secondary. Dives from ocean surface, forages underwater. See Wehle (1983) for feeding of young in Alaska.
Global Phenology: Diurnal: Adult, Immature
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: Y
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 38/ / 619
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: BREEDING: islands and coasts of Chukchi and Bering seas from Diomede Islands and Cape Lisburne south to the Aleutian Islands; from the Alaska Peninsula south to British Columbia; northeastern Siberia to the Kurile Islands; also Cooper Island, just east of Point Barrow, Alaska (see Johnson and Herter 1989). NON-BREEDING: open sea, breeding range south (casually) to Hawaii, California, Japan (AOU 1983).
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: HAMMERSON, G.
Last Updated: Mar 22, 1994
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
Bent, A.C. 1919. Life histories of North American diving birds. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 107. Washington, D.C.
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC.
Golovkin, A. N. 1984. Seabirds nesting in the USSR: the status and protection of populations. Pages 473-486 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Hatch, S. A., and M. A. Hatch. 1990. Breeding seasons of oceanic birds in a subarctic colony. Can. J. Zool. 68:1664-1679.
Hyslop, C., and J. Kennedy, editors. 1992. Bird trends: a report on results of national ornithological surveys in Canada. Number 2, Autumn 1992. Migratory Birds Conservation Division, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario. 20 pp.
Johnsgard, P. A. 1987. Diving birds of North America. Univ. Nebraska Press, Lincoln. xii + 292 pp.
Johnson, S. R. and D. R. Herter. 1989. The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. 372 pp.
King, W. B. 1984. Incidental mortality of seabirds in gillnets in the North Pacific. Pages 709-715 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Lensink, C. J. 1984. The status and conservation of seabirds in Alaska. Pages 13-27 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Publ. No. 2.
National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
Sealy, S. G., editor. 1990. Auks at sea. Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, Studies in Avian Biology No. 14. vi + 180 pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Wehle, D. H. S. 1983. The food, feeding, and development of young tufted and horned puffins in Alaska. Condor 85: 427-442.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Fratercula corniculata. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 13, 2026).