During the period prior to egg laying, large groups of puffins congregate off-shore from their nesting colony and engage in intense courtships and frequent copulations. Similar behaviors occur on land at the same time, with puffins courting mates through skypointing (flying straight upwards), strutting, and billing (two birds rubbing their bills together).
Mating System: monogamous
Fratercula cirrhata usually begin breeding in April, although mating activity has been seen as early as March and as late as May in some cases.
Each female puffin lays one off-white egg, sometimes with faint blue and brown markings, usually between late April and early June. Eggs produced later than June are unlikely to produce fledglings. The peak egg-laying period usually lasts about two weeks in each colony. Both parents help with incubation, which last betweeen 40 and 53 days.
Once the chicks hatch, their growth rate is variable between colonies and from year to year. The difference is dependent on the feeding conditions of their location. Both parents take turns bringing food to the chicks, which happens two to three times daily, and most frequently in the morning and early evening. Chicks remain in the burrow and rely on their parents until they are fledged, which usually happens 45-55 days after hatching. There is no post-fledging parental care, and the puffling first leaves the nest for the open sea alone and at night. Young puffins usually do not return to the colony for almost two years, spending all their time at sea. Puffins become sexually mature at the age of three, but most do not mate until they're four.
Juveniles moult during their first winter at sea, and again the following autumn. Adult puffins moult completely following the breeding season, and partially before breeding. (Gaston 1998, Kessel 1989, Paul 1994)
Breeding interval: Tufted puffins breed once yearly.
Breeding season: Fratercula cirrhata usually begin breeding in April, although mating activity has been seen as early as March and as late as May in some cases.
Average eggs per season: 1.
Range time to hatching: 40 to 53 days.
Range fledging age: 45 to 55 days.
Range time to independence: 45 to 55 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 3-4 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 3-4 years.
Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
Both parents incubate, protect, and feed their developing young until they are fledged.
Parental Investment: no parental involvement; altricial ; pre-fertilization (Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)