Rhinoceros Auklet

Cerorhinca monocerata (Pallas, 1811)

Rhinoceros Auklet, Cerorhinca monocerata, breeds on temperate North Pacific coasts in the Palearctic and North America, from Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands through Hokkaido and northern Honshu, and from the Aleutian Islands and southern to south-eastern Alaska to southern California. Outside the breeding season it moves as far as southern Japan, the Korean Peninsula and northern Baja California. It is a seabird in the auk family and is closely related to puffins. Its name comes from the horn-like extension on the bill, which appears only in breeding adults and is renewed each year.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Alcidae — Auks

Breeding range

Palearctic, North America: temperate North Pacific coasts: off Sakhalin and Kuril Is. (se Russia), Hokkaido and n Honshu (n Japan), Aleutian Is., s, se Alaska to s California

Nonbreeding range

to s Japan, Korean Pen. (w North Pacific) and n Baja California (e North Pacific)