Cannon Beach Talk Looks Into Adorable N. Oregon Coast Wonders Like Rhinoceros Auklet

Published 04/02/26 at 5:45 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – There are more kinds of cuteness in the bird world of the north Oregon coast than the famed and famous puffin. The rhinoceros auklet is another little wonder of the iconic landmark, and one that is underrated. (Photo Roy Lowe, Oregon Coast Wildlife Refuge)

Friends of Haystack Rock and Pelican Brewery in Cannon Beach will host a Nature Talks program on Sunday, April 12, at 4 p.m., featuring a presentation on seabirds as indicators of ocean health – with an emphasis on the auklets. The event takes place at 1371 S. Hemlock Street in Cannon Beach.

Biologist and author Eric Wagner will discuss the role of rhinoceros auklets as ecological sentinels, drawing from his forthcoming book Seabirds as Sentinels. Each spring, thousands of auklets return to Destruction Island off Washington’s outer coast to nest, offering researchers insight into shifting ocean conditions, climate change, fisheries, and the intertwined histories of human and nonhuman communities.

Wagner, who holds a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Washington, has studied penguins in Argentina and auklets on Washington’s coastal islands. He is the author of four books, including After the Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Orion, and High Country News. Though now based in Seattle, his roots are here on the Oregon coast. He grew up in Astoria and once worked for the Haystack Rock Awareness Program during his high school and college years.

Photo: Friends of Haystack Rock - an injured rhinoceros auklet found near Haystack Rock that was taken to the Wildlife Center of the North Coast.

“This magnificent bird arrives at Haystack Rock under the cover of darkness; you would never really know that they had arrived at all, but like clockwork each spring they use the unique habitat atop Haystack Rock to nest and raise their young,” said the Friends of Haystack Rock's Tiffany Boothe.

Often overshadowed by their more charismatic puffin relatives, rhinoceros auklets follow a similarly faithful migration pattern, returning to the same nesting grounds much like salmon return to their home rivers. While puffins can be spotted outside their burrows at dawn or winging back and forth with fish throughout the day, auklets remain hidden. They spend daylight hours deep inside their dens, making them nearly invisible to beachgoers despite their presence from April through August.

After enduring a demanding winter at sea, pairs reunite at night at the entrances of their burrows. They reaffirm their bond through a quiet ritual of rubbing beaks before retreating inside, where the female lays a single egg - white, brown, or gray-speckled. For the next 39 to 52 days, both parents share incubation duties, leaving only after dark to forage for small baitfish. Once the chick hatches, the adults continue alternating nighttime feeding trips to sustain their young.

Oregon Coast Beach Connection

The chick’s development is swift, Boothe told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Within seven to eight weeks, it must be ready to depart for its first winter on the open ocean. Survival is far from guaranteed; storms and harsh conditions take a heavy toll on inexperienced juveniles. Young auklets found stranded on beaches can be taken to the Wildlife Center of the North Coast for rehabilitation and release, though the process is costly and labor-intensive.

As seabird populations continue to decline, the need to protect these vulnerable birds grows more urgent each year. https://www.friendsofhaystackrock.org/

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