Fratercula cirrhata
Silhouette: Richard Bartz (photo) and Albertonykus (silhouette) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata), also known as crested puffin, is a relatively abundant medium-sized pelagic seabird in the auk family (Alcidae) found throughout the North Pacific Ocean. It is one of three species of puffin that make up the genus Fratercula and is easily recognizable by its thick red bill and yellow tufts.
Tufted puffins are around 35 cm (14 in) in length with a similar wingspan and weigh about three-quarters of a kilogram (1.6 lbs), making them the largest of all the puffins. Birds from the western Pacific population are somewhat larger than those from the eastern Pacific, and male birds tend to be slightly larger than females.
They are primarily black with a white facial patch, and, typical of other puffin species, feature a very thick bill, primarily red with some yellow and occasionally green markings. Their most distinctive feature and namesake are the yellow tufts (Latin: cirri) that appear annually on birds of both sexes as the summer reproductive season approaches. Their feet become bright red and their face is also bright white in the summer. During the feeding season, the tufts molt off and the plumage, beak, and legs lose much... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenai Fjords National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Tufted Puffin sighting in Olympic National Park on a given day, based on 282 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 97th most-seen of the 216 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Tufted Puffin in Olympic National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months. Those are among Olympic National Park's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 370 mm in November.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tufted Puffin sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Tufted Puffin sightings, Olympic National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Kenai Fjords National Park (United States, about 60%).
Same family: Alcidae
The closest relatives of the Tufted Puffin that you can see in Olympic National Park (family Alcidae, Auks, Murres, and Puffins) are Pigeon Guillemot (about 20%), Common Murre (about 10%) and Rhinoceros Auklet (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tufted Puffin is recorded against all the birds logged in Olympic National Park (282 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
