Tufted Puffins Return to Bandon, Oregon

Tufted Puffins return to Bandon, Oregon

Great news for wildlife enthusiasts along the Oregon Coast!  Tufted puffins have returned to Bandon, Oregon after an 8 year disappearance.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported this week that a pair of Tufted puffins are nesting on Elephant Rock for the first time since 2001.

The long absence of the birds from this region has been blamed in part on foxes, global climate change and light pollution from the expanding human population in the area.  In fact, the population of Tufted puffins in Oregon has declined 75% over the past 20 years.

Some have even referred to the dramatic decline of the birds as a “Canary in the Coal Mine,” with respect to global warming:

Welcome back to the Tufted Puffin!

Elephant Rock off the coast near Bandon, Oregon is part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.  Last year, a number of puffins were spotted in the area, but scientists could not tell if they were actually nesting, or just “hanging out.”

Local residents, as well as wildlife officials, are thrilled that the birds are back.  The Tufted puffin has long been considered the unofficial bird of Bandon.  In fact, a local watering hole is named after it.  Bird-watchers will be “flocking” to the area to catch the puffins nesting and then caring for their young.  Officials say that the best time to observe the birds is in the early morning.

Of course, only time will tell if the Tufted puffins are back for good at Bandon, Oregon.  Obviously, the changing habitat has driven them away for the better part of the decade.  We should consider our role in the future of the birds’ survival, as we celebrate our good fortune in the current return of the Tufted Puffins to the Oregon Coast.