Historical Distribution and Current Population Status of Tufted Puffins Fratercula cirrhata in Canada's California Current System

Unpublished accounts indicate that the number of Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrhata colonies in western Canada has declined in recent decades. However, a lack of recent colony count data makes it impossible to determine current trends. Here we compile published and unpublished information for Tufted Puffins in the Canadian portion of the California Current System (i.e., from the vicinity of the Scott Islands south to the Canada-US border) to update understanding of the species’ status in the region, and to assemble available information in a single source. We found historical records of three additional colonies over those in pre-existing compilations, bringing the total count for the region to 19. However, 11 of these are currently extirpated and another three likely so. All but one of these extirpated colonies are ‘very small’ (historical mode of counts, 1–3 pairs), reflecting patterns of Tufted Puffin colony loss in US waters to the south. Two larger puffin colonies (historical counts, 20–50 pairs) underwent abandonment in the 1990s, but one of these appears to have been recolonized recently. Tufted Puffin numbers at Canada’s largest colony, Triangle Island, are likely stable. A lack of standardized monitoring of these colonies, with the exception of Triangle Island, makes it challenging to understand population trends, undertake restoration work, or mitigate current threats.