---
title: "Horned Puffin"
description: "Fratercula corniculata — Birds. The horned puffin (Fratercula corniculata) is an auk found in the North Pacific Ocean, including the coasts of Alaska, Siberia and British Columbia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/horned-puffin
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Horned Puffin

> Fratercula corniculata — Birds. The horned puffin (Fratercula corniculata) is an auk found in the North Pacific Ocean, including the coasts of Alaska, Siberia and British Columbia.

- Scientific name: *Fratercula corniculata*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 1817
- Wikidata: [Q855367](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q855367)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4508](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4508)

## Names

- en: Horned Puffin
- de: Hornlund
- es: Frailecillo cornudo
- fr: Macareux cornu
- nl: Gehoornde papegaaiduiker
- pt: Papagaio-do-mar-de-chifres
- pl: Maskonur pacyficzny

## Countries with the most observations

US (1298), RU (208), CA (31)

## Summary

The horned puffin (Fratercula corniculata) is an auk found in the North Pacific Ocean, including the coasts of Alaska, Siberia and British Columbia. It is a pelagic seabird that feeds primarily by diving for fish. It nests in colonies, often with other auks.
It is similar in appearance to the Atlantic puffin, its closest relative of the North Atlantic, but differs by a "horn" of black skin located above the eye, present in adult birds.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horned_puffin

## Photo

![Horned Puffin](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/horned-puffin/medium.jpg)

Photo: steve b · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/164518815

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/horned-puffin?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).