Puffin Beaks
Kachemak Currents is a podcast and radio segment produced weekly by the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. This segment originally aired on KBBI public radio (AM 890) on September 9th, 2024, and was written and recorded by Coastal Studies Program Director Katie Gavenus. For more episodes of Kachemak Currents or to listen live, visit KBBI online.
Welcome to Kachemak Currents, brought to you by the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.
Last week as we boated past Gull Island, a handful of puffins bobbed in the swell. They were mostly tufted puffins, and a singular horned puffin. There are so many things about puffins that make them eye-catching and charismatic. But their distinctive, big orange-and-yellow bills are especially interesting!
One of the first questions that comes to mind when one sees the oversized, vibrantly colored beak on both our local puffin species is: Why? Why do puffins have these extra large beaks? One theory is that a larger beak, combined with their barbed tongues, helps puffins to hold onto more delicious and nutritious—but slippery—fish like herring and sand lance. Another theory is that the beaks are used in displays during mating season; a clue for potential mates to the health of the puffin in question.
Two puffins perch at the top of Gull Island, a prominent seabird rookery in Kachemak Bay. Photo by Nicole Wagner.
But recent research suggests that there may be another reason for the extra large bill: heat dissipation. The beak likely helps a puffin cool off as blood is pumped through numerous blood vessels in the beak, exchanging heat with the nearby air. This is something that is known to happen with some other birds in tropical biomes, like toucans and certain species of ducks. But why would a puffin in Alaska need to cool off?
Well, anyone who has seen a puffin fly knows that an immense amount of effort and wing flapping is needed to keep these dense birds in the air. And all that flapping generates a lot of heat, which can be dumped through the beak. This adaptation may even allow puffins to fly longer without taking a break to cool down, which helps them to more successfully find patchy aggregations of fish without overheating! Using a thermal camera, researchers from UC Davis calculated that after a long flight, puffin beaks are responsible for 18% of total heat loss even though they are only 6% of the bird’s body surface. That’s impressive! There are even some indications that their ability to dump heat through their beaks may make puffins slightly more resilient to a warming climate.
So that may help to explain the size of the beaks, but what about the color? The colorful bills may exist during breeding season in part because of mating preferences. Indeed, the bills are probably even more striking to puffins than to us—Atlantic puffins, at least, have brilliant streaks on their beaks that show up under UV light and are visible to puffins who have photoreceptors that allow them to see ultraviolet wavelengths of light. While this hasn’t been documented in horned or tufted puffins yet, it is likely they, too, have special patterns on their beaks that are highlighted by UV light.
In Alutiiq language, these birds are called tunggat.
During mating displays, puffins do seem to really show off that colorful beak. Males repeatedly open and close their bill or swing it back and forth. Sometimes they will rest it on their back to highlight the colors, or nibble at a female’s feet or nape. Females that are interested will often reciprocate by rubbing their bill briefly against the male’s bill. During horned puffin courtship, males and females will rapidly open and close their bills to make a distinctive popping sound. This popping continues to occur throughout the summer, especially as one parent replaces the other at the nest site. Interestingly, similar bill popping behavior has been noted between puffins of the same sex occupying nearby nesting sites. So perhaps this is a way of communicating that goes beyond just courtship rituals.
In predominantly grey, blue, and green environments, puffins’ beaks really stand out! Photo by Nicole Wagner.
The sound of puffin beaks has been utilized by humans as well. In Alutiiq language these birds are called tunggat. Alutiiq and Sugpiaq dance rattles are made by attaching clusters of puffin beaks to hoops, creating a unique, rattling instrument. Tunggat beaks have also been used to decorate clothing and on drums. Skins of puffins have been used for many, many generations in bird-skin parkas and the meat of puffins is a traditional food. Use of puffin skins and beaks has long been a part of Alaska Native cultures along the coasts that these birds share with people, from Tlingit Aani to Inupiaq Nuna.
This is Katie Gavenus, and this has been Kachemak Currents, brought to you by the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, which has been connecting you with the nature of Kachemak Bay through education and stewardship for over 40 years.
