The tufted puffin, Fratercula cirrhata , is a mediumsized seabird belonging to the family Alcidae and is widely distributed throughout the North Pacific Ocean. It breeds mainly on islands and cliffs in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, the Kuril Islands, Alaska, and the coast of California, and, in Japan, a small number of birds breed on islands in eastern Hokkaido. F. cirrhata is classified as 1A in the endangered species list, i.e., critically endangered, in the Japanese Red Data