Tufted Puffins Add Wild February to Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2024

Summary: Tufted puffins add wild February to Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2024, whereby the National Audubon Society advances Arctic, near-Arctic American wildlife.

"God talks to human beings through many vectors: through each other, through organized religion, through the great books of those religions, through wise people, through art and music and literature and poetry, but nowhere with such detail and grace and color and joy as through creation. When we destroy a species, when we destroy a special place, we're diminishing our capacity to sense the divine, understand who God is and what our own potential is." Robert Francis Kennedy Jr., April 19, 2023, Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts.

“And there’s many people out there who want us to move to the next planet already and I’m like, hang on, let’s not give up on this planet yet," William, Prince of Wales, July 31, 2023, Sorted Food food truck, London, England, United Kingdom.

Tufted puffins affect golden-plumed, orange-billed, white-faced appearances as non-breeding adults; Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 11:40, image of tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata), Tangik Island (Aleut: Tan'gax̂), Fox Islands group (Russian: Лисьи острова), eastern Aleutian Islands, Aleutians East Borough, southwestern Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (AMNWR), southwestern Alaska: Steve Ebbert, USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) Headquarters, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Tufted puffins add wild February to Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2024, whereby the National Audubon Society advances Arctic, near-Arctic American wildlife who abide in or access Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The Chordata phylum and Aves class (from Greek χορδή, “guts” via Latin chorda, “[spinal] cord”; Latin avis, “bird”) member breeds in coastal Alaska and coastal Russia. The Charadriiformes order and Alcidae family (from Greek χαραδριός, “stone-curlew”; Latin -fōrmis, “-shaped”; Norse alka, “auk”; Greek -ειδής, “like”) member congregates summers off Pacific coastal Russia. The Fratercula cirrhata (from Latin frater -culus cirrus -ātus, “brother little curl -ed”) genus and species member dwells summers off Pacific coastal America, Alaska through California.

Summer months entail maximally 4-month breeding responsibilities, with shared 44-day incubating and 49-day parenting, that ensue from their annual mating seasons extending between April and August.

Tufted puffins appear during breeding summers in coastal and insular Alaska and eastern Russia. The Chordata phylum and Aves class (from Greek χορδή, “guts” via Latin chorda, “[spinal] cord”; Latin avis, “bird”) member appear during non-breeding winters in and under deep, open Pacific Ocean waters between coastal America, from Alaska from California, and eastern coastal Russia; Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, distribution map of tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata), with red=extant (resident), orange=extant (breeding visitor), yellow=extant (winter visitor), adapted from BirdLife International and Handbook of the Birds of the World (2016) 2014. Fratercula cirrhata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-2 @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22694934/168852266: Karte NordNordWest, Lizenz Creative Commons by-sa-3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons

Tufted puffins, figured taxonomically by Peter Pallas (Sep. 22, 1741-Sep. 8, 1811) in 1769, favor winter flights to deep waters between Pacific coastal North and Russia.

Pacific coastal cliffs; grassy-sloped, offshore, rocky, treeless islands; and grassy-sloped, rocky shores of Canadian and Unitedstatesian America and of Russia guard tufted puffin fathers- and mothers-to-be. Monogamous, physically and sexually mature 3- to 4-plus-year-old tufted fathers- and mothers-to-be house their single-egg single brood in sometimes feather- and grass-lined, sometimes hollow unlined nests. Tufted puffins, sometimes identified commonly as crested puffins, install their nests in 2- to 6.5-foot- (0.61- to 1.98-meter-) long burrows in turf-ceiling soil on island tops.

Tufted puffins journey during wild February on Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2024 from chambered burrows or tunnels or rock-creviced cliffs or slopes to deep, open waters.

Tufted puffin fathers- and mothers-to-be, monogamously mated, apply themselves to the annual nest. The Charadriiformes order (from Greek χαραδριός, “stone-curlew [Burhinus oedicnemus]” via Latin charadrius, “plover”; Latin fōrma, “shape” via -fōrmis, “-shaped”) member congregates summers off Pacific coastal Russia arrange their nests as feather- and grass-lined or hollow unlined chambers in burrows or tunnels or in grassy-slope or rocky-cliff crevices; Friday, May 28, 2004, 14:43, image of tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) outside of burrow, Kuril Islands (Russian: Кури́льские острова́, Kuril'skiye ostrova), Sakhalin Oblast, Russian Far East: Eliezg, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Tufted puffin parents-to-be keep brown-white-, gray-purple-, gray-white-scrawled and spotted, dull-white, non-glossy, smooth, sub-elliptical to oval 72.84- by 1.93-inch (2- by 49-millimeter) eggs incubated for 1.5 months.

Semi-precocial (from Latin prae- coquō, “before I ripen” via praecox, “premature, ripe before its time, untimely”) hatchlings lodge sooty-black upper-sided, sooty-gray undersided long, silky, soft down. Tufted puffin parents monitor their nestlings, whose meals they manage with such small fish as capelin (Mallotus villosus), juvenile pollock (Pollachius pollachius) and sand lance (Ammodytidae). Tufted puffin nestlings as 38-, 38-plus-day-olds navigate nearby waters as 38-, 38-plus-day-olds who no longer need their nests even as they net flying skills as 49-day-olds.

Rapid-flying, strong-winged tufted puffins occur as dark-faced, non-breeding, yellow-billed adults whose heads offer no golden, long plumes in wild February for Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2024.

Tufted puffins are physically and sexually immature juveniles until they are 3 to 4 years old; juvenile tufted puffin, Fratercula cirrhata (Pallas, 1769), under synonym of Sagmatorrhina Lathami Bonaparte 1851 (Charles Lucien, Prince Bonaparte, "On the Largest Known Species of Phaleridine Bird," Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, Part XIX [1851: 201-202], Aves Plate XLIV, opposite page 201) illustrated by natural history illustrator Joseph Wolf (Jan. 22, 1820-April 20, 1899): Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Breeding tufted puffins possess orange bills; white faces; large, rounded heads; golden-plumed backs of heads and napes; dark under- and upper-parts; and orange feet and legs.

Mature tufted puffins, as largest puffin species, quarter 15-inch- (38-centimeter-) long, 27-ounce (775-gram) bodies with 25-inch (64-centimeter) wingspans and rounded wings during their maximally 30-year lifespans. Arctic and red foxes, bald eagles, eagle and snowy owls, gulls, peregrine falcons, ravens and sharks versus trophy-collecting humans respectively rank as natural enemies and predators. Tufted puffins sound guttural, low, moaning growls, purrs and wails and, as deep-water divers, swim underwater with their feet and tail spread and their wings part-open.

Wild February on Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2024 teams tufted puffins with seawater habitats, from which they travel to their birthing burrow in their birthing colony.

Tufted puffins assemble into summer-breeding and winter-nonbreeding colonies; image of tufted puffins, with a couple of puffin-related murres (center; black with white underparts), Bogoslof Island (Aleut: Aĝasaaĝux̂), also known as Agasagook Island, southwestern Alaska, southern edge of Bering Sea: Judy Alderson/USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

Tufted puffins affect golden-plumed, orange-billed, white-faced appearances as non-breeding adults; Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 11:40, image of tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata), Tangik Island (Aleut: Tan'gax̂), Fox Islands group (Russian: Лисьи острова), eastern Aleutian Islands, Aleutians East Borough, southwestern Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (AMNWR), southwestern Alaska: Steve Ebbert, USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) Headquarters, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tufted_puffins_(9192590883).jpg; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters (USFWS Headquarters), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq/9192590883/

Tufted puffins appear during breeding summers in coastal and insular Alaska and eastern Russia. The Chordata phylum and Aves class (from Greek χορδή, “guts” via Latin chorda, “[spinal] cord”; Latin avis, “bird”) member appear during non-breeding winters in and under deep, open Pacific Ocean waters between coastal America, from Alaska from California, and eastern coastal Russia; Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, distribution map of tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata), with red=extant (resident), orange=extant (breeding visitor), yellow=extant (winter visitor), adapted from BirdLife International and Handbook of the Birds of the World (2016) 2014. Fratercula cirrhata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-2 @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22694934/168852266: Karte NordNordWest, Lizenz Creative Commons by-sa-3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fratercula_cirrhata_distribution_map.svg

Tufted puffin fathers- and mothers-to-be, monogamously mated, apply themselves to the annual nest. The Charadriiformes order (from Greek χαραδριός, “stone-curlew [Burhinus oedicnemus]” via Latin charadrius, “plover”; Latin fōrma, “shape” via -fōrmis, “-shaped”) member congregates summers off Pacific coastal Russia arrange their nests as feather- and grass-lined or hollow unlined chambers in burrows or tunnels or in grassy-slope or rocky-cliff crevices; Friday, May 28, 2004, 14:43, image of tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) outside of burrow, Kuril Islands (Russian: Кури́льские острова́, Kuril'skiye ostrova), Sakhalin Oblast, Russian Far East: Eliezg, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TuftedPuffinBurrow.jpg

Tufted puffins are physically and sexually immature juveniles until they are 3 to 4 years old; juvenile tufted puffin, Fratercula cirrhata (Pallas, 1769), under synonym of Sagmatorrhina Lathami Bonaparte 1851 (Charles Lucien, Prince Bonaparte, "On the Largest Known Species of Phaleridine Bird," Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, Part XIX [1851: 201-202], Aves Plate XLIV, opposite page 201) illustrated by natural history illustrator Joseph Wolf (Jan. 22, 1820-April 20, 1899): Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12859306; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sagmatorrhina_Lathami-Wolf_PZSL1851.png; CC BY NC 3.0, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/lietuvostsrmoksl50liet/page/n657/mode/1up

Tufted puffins assemble into summer-breeding and winter-nonbreeding colonies; image of tufted puffins, with a couple of puffin-related murres (center; black with white underparts), Bogoslof Island (Aleut: Aĝasaaĝux̂), also known as Agasagook Island, southwestern Alaska, southern edge of Bering Sea: Judy Alderson/USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Group_of_Tufted_Puffins_(and_a_couple_of_Murres)_on_Bogoslof_Island_by_Judy_Alderson_USFWS.jpg; Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, via Facebook Sep. 25, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/AlaskaMaritimeNationalWildlifeRefuge/photos/a.460515650636016/2044255845595314/

For further information:

Baicich, Paul J.; and Colin J. O. Harrison. 2005. "Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata)." Page 174. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Second edition. Princeton NJ; and Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England: Princeton University Press.

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 December 2023. "Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 Assigns Snowy Owls to December Birds." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/12/audubon-arctic-wall-calendar-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 December 2023. "Spectacled Eiders Are Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023 December Birds." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/12/spectacled-eiders-are-audubon-arctic.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 November 2023. "Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 Adds Mount Katmai to Wild November." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/11/audubon-arctic-wall-calendar-2022-adds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 October 2023. "Caribou Abound as Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 October Animals." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/10/caribou-abound-as-audubon-arctic-wall.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 October 2023. "Red-Necked Phalaropes, Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023 October Birds." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/10/red-necked-phalaropes-audubon-arctic.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 September 2023. "Brown Bears Are Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 September Animals." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/09/brown-bears-are-audubon-arctic-wall.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 September 2023. "Polar Bears Act as Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023 September Animals." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/09/polar-bears-act-as-audubon-arctic-wall.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 August 2023. "Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 Augurs King Eiders as August Birds." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/08/audubon-arctic-wall-calendar-2022.html#google_vignette

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 August 2023. "Savannah Sparrows Are Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023 August Birds." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/08/savannah-sparrows-are-audubon-arctic.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 July 2023. "Kenai Peninsula Awes, As Wild July, Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/07/kenai-peninsula-awes-as-wild-july.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 June 2023. "Buff-Breasted Sandpipers, Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 June Birds." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/06/buff-breasted-sandpipers-audubon-arctic.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 June 2023. "Rock Ptarmigans Act as June Birds on Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/06/rock-ptarmigans-act-as-june-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 May 2023. "Moose Appear as May Animals on Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/05/moose-appear-as-may-animals-on-audubon.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 April 2023. "Brooks Range Acts as Wild April on Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/04/brooks-range-acts-as-wild-april-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 April 2023. "Arctic Terns Are April Birds on Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/04/arctic-terns-are-april-birds-on-audubon.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 March 2023. "Western Sandpipers Are Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 March Birds." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/03/western-sandpipers-are-audubon-arctic.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 March 2023. "Baffin Island Wolves Are Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023 Wild March." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/03/baffin-island-wolves-are-audubon-arctic.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2023. "Musk Ox, Muskox Are Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar February 2022 Animals." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/02/musk-ox-muskox-are-audubon-arctic-wall.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 February 2023. "Red-Throated Loons Are Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023 February Birds." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/02/red-throated-loons-are-audubon-arctic.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 January 2023. "Mallard Ducks Aced Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 as January Birds." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/01/mallard-ducks-aced-audubon-arctic-wall.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 January 2023. "Red Foxes Are January Wildlife on Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/01/red-foxes-are-january-wildlife-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 December 2022. "Dark-Eyed Juncos Are December Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/12/dark-eyed-juncos-are-december-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 26 November 2022. "Eared Grebes Are November Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/11/eared-grebes-are-november-birds-on-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 October 2022. "Barred Owls Are October Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/10/barred-owls-are-october-birds-on-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 September 2022. "Brown Pelicans Are September Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/brown-pelicans-are-september-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 August 2022. "Allen’s Hummingbirds Are August Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/08/allens-hummingbirds-are-august-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 July 2022. "Reddish Egrets Are July Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/07/reddish-egrets-are-july-birds-on-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 June 2022. "American Oystercatchers Are June Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/06/american-oystercatchers-are-june-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 May 2022. "Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks Are May Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/05/rose-breasted-grosbeaks-are-may-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 April 2022. "Crested Caracaras Appear as April Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/04/crested-caracaras-appear-as-april-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 March 2022. "Cerulean Warblers Are March Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/cerulean-warblers-are-march-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 February 2022. "Northern Bobwhites Are February Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/northern-bobwhites-are-february-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 January 2022. "Florida Scrub-Jays Are January Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/florida-scrub-jays-are-january-birds-on.html