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Horned Puffin : Horned Puffin Qengacuar(aq) Can you imagine a bird that flies underwater? Well, this one does, and even better than it flies in the air. I've never watched them do this in the wild, but two years ago when I was at the Sea Life Center in Seward I watched them for a long time as they used their wings to propel themselves around and around, twisting and turning only with the movement of their webbed feet. They're pretty nimble walkers, too, but when it comes to flying in the air, they are just plain awkward. Even getting up from the top of the water is a challenge, requiring a run along the surface, which may include an occasional crash through a wave or two before they finally push aloft. This is why puffins choose to dig their burrows into steep hillsides or on rocky slopes or cliff faces, so they can dive off the edge to get enough speed for flight. I've watched their eastern cousins, the Atlantic Puffin, as they took to the air, kicking their feet back and forth to change direction. Horned puffins belong to the family Alcidae, which includes murres and guillemots. Like other alcids, they spend most of their lives on the open sea and visit land only to breed in the late spring and summer. When I lived in Scammon Bay in the 1980's I learned these birds nested on the westernmost headland of the Askinuk Mountains called Cape Romanzof. From a recent trip to Alakanuk I was told they still nest there. Early sailors dubbed puffins "sea parrots" because of their large upright parrot-like bodies and colorful bills. In Scammon Bay the people perhaps humorously dub the bird Qengacuar(aq), meaning "little nose." Another name for them in that part of the Lower Yukon Delta is Qilangaq. I have also read that some Yupik people refer to them as "Qategarpak" because of their big white breast. Their scientific name, Fratercula corniculata, translates as "horned little brother." And, while I'm at it, their common English name derives from both its puffy shape (Coues) and the small fleshy "horn" that projects just above their eyes. In spring, hormones tell these pelagic birds to start heading for shore where both sexes excavate 3-4 foot long burrows into steep hillsides with their sharp claws. Only a single white egg is layed then incubated by both parents, who take turns, for 42-47 days. When the egg hatches in July the chick remains in the burrow for another 45-55 days while its parents take turns feeding it and standing guard. By late summer the parents have finished with their duties and leave for the north Pacific Ocean. After fledging and fattening up, the young follow suit, spending the next year far offshore on the open ocean. Only when they are fully two years old do they return to visit the colony during the summer. At three they come back again, sometimes to breed, but it is mostly at 4 years old that they return to find mates and raise families. It's fascinating watching puffins dive straight into the water from the air and continue flying underwater by flapping half-folded wings and using their brightly colored feet as paddles. They feed in flocks on fish and zooplankton, and when they catch fish for their young they line them up crosswise in their bills, without losing the first one when they add another to their catch. They also manage to take off from a choppy ocean and deliver the fish to their young in the same way. In late summer puffins shed the outer layer of their zany bills, leaving a much smaller drab-colored bill to get them through the winter. Their body plumage also becomes a dusky gray color. In the Hooper Bay-Scammon Bay area Qengacuaraq was once hunted for food and clothing, and the eggs were collected for food. A method used by hunters was with a net on the end of a long pole. When the puffin flew in towards its burrow the hunter suddenly thrust the net in its flight path, making the bird an instant candidate for the next soup pot. Some other English names of the Horned puffin are: Ice bird, Razor-billed auk, Sea crow and Tinker. » List of Yupik Birds

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