9"x12", watercolor, unframed, 2018

The largest puffin, this chunky seabird has an entirely black body, white face, and fetching tuft of yellowish feathers curling around its nape. Thick orange bill and orange feet. Nonbreeding and young birds have reduced yellow tuft, gray face, and smaller, duller bill. Young birds could be confused with Rhinoceros Auklet, but bill is longer and thicker. Horned Puffin smaller with white underparts. Breeds in colonies on rocky islands and cliffs, further south than Horned Puffin. Winters on open ocean. Source: Merlin