Its bright colors have earned the tufted puffin the nickname, "parrot of the sea," but this beautiful bird is at home on land as well. In early spring, its beak and feet turn a vibrant orange in preparation for breeding season, but in winter they fade to duller shades of their summer color. Juveniles are less colorful than adults.

The tufted puffin nests in burrows or tunnels on inaccessible rocky cliffs and offshore islands. You'll find them in dense, large colonies during the breeding season in the spring and summer. While nesting, puffins are very social—flocks of 10 to 25 birds may leave the colony to gather food for their mates and chicks. But in the winter, after the breeding season, tufted puffins disperse far and wide, and are solitary birds, venturing over the Central North Pacific while experiencing a range of conditions—from the frigid seas of the Bering Strait to subtropical waters off California. When it's time to breed again, they'll return to the colony where they were born, and usually to the same mate.