Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Fish and Wildlife Service

Jensen, Else. 2000. Sea Parrots of the Farrallon Islands. Tideline Vol 20 No. 1 1-3.

Sea Parrots of the Farallon Islands

by Else Jensen

"Puffins in San Francisco?" My friends ask when I tell them I study tufted puffins on Farallon National Wildlife Refuge. They are surprised to hear that a colony of tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) exists just 25 miles out to sea from the Golden Gate.

The second question is usually accompanied by knitted brows, "What exactly is a puffin? Are they like penguins?"

I stack my hands about 15 inches apart saying, "They’re about so tall." Then I spread my hands apart to indicate a chunky bird. "They’re jet black from head to tail, except for a white facial mask." Here I trace a triangle from the center of my face tapering to my ears. "And long blond plumes at the end of a facial mask." I sweep my fingers back from my head to indicate the two thin plumes that wave in the wind. These plumes give them their name, tufted puffin. "And a huge orange and yellow beak, like a parrot." I gesture in front of my face to indicate the massive glorious beak of the breeding tufted puffin, at times in history known as the "sea parrot."

"Can they fly?" ask my undaunted friends.

Page 1 2 3 4 5

Last updated: May 27, 2008

SF Bay Complex Home