Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Population justification
The global population is estimated to number more than 1,200,000 individuals, which equates to more than 800,000 mature individuals (del Hoyo et al. 1996)
Trend justification
The population is suspected to be in decline owing to predation by invasive species and ongoing habitat destruction.
The Horned Puffin can be found in the northern Pacific Ocean, from the coast of Japan and south-west Canada in the south, up to and including the Chukchi Sea in the north. It breeds on most of the islands and coasts in this area, up to the north of its range on Wrangel Island, Russia, but can only be found breeding as far south as the Queen Charlotte Islands (Canada) and Sakhalinsk (Russia) (del Hoyo et al. 1996).
This marine species can be found along sea coasts on rocky cliffs and offshore islands during breeding, and ranging over adjacent waters usually only to the edge of the continental shelf during non-breeding periods. Its diet is comprised mainly of a wide diversity of fish, supplemented with a significant proportion of squid, crustaceans and polychaetes. Chick diet is primarily the high fat and calorific sandeels and capelin. It obtains most prey by pursuit-diving. Individuals arive at colonies on rocky cliffs, boulder areas and talus slopes in spring, with the start of breeding being variable depending on locality. It is a colonial species with aggregations of varying sizes (del Hoyo et al. 1996).
Incidental capture used to be a widespread threat throughout the North Pacific, with large numbers being killed in pelagic driftnets between the 1950s and 1980s, and an estimated 49,000 (± 53,000) killed per year in squid driftnet fisheries in the 1980s (DeGange et al. 1993). Bycatch levels decreased markedly as these fisheries closed due to the UN ban on high seas large-scale driftnets, and at present, the number of birds killed is thought to be minimal, with negligible effects on population trends. Significant mortality rates from bycatch may be continuing in Russian waters, where the Japanese fleet has been permitted to operate since the early 1990s (Zydelis et al. 2013). Predation by invasive Rats Rattus spp., Arctic Vulpes lagopus and Red Foxes V. vulpes may pose a threat to species survival and reproductive success, but the impact is considered to be low, affecting only a minority of the population and not driving significant declines. Nesting in less accessible crevices may reduce the predation pressure on this species compared to other seabirds (Bailey and Kaiser 1993).
Text account compilers
Hermes, C.
Contributors
Butchart, S., Calvert, R., Ekstrom, J., Fjagesund, T. & Martin, R.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Horned Puffin Fratercula corniculata. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/horned-puffin-fratercula-corniculata on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.