affiliations:
Alaska Photo Source, Anchorage, Alaska, USA || U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska, USA.
biography:
Donna Dewhurst is a retired wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where she worked with migratory birds, and especially with seabirds, shorebirds and waterfowl. After retirement she shifted her full-time work energy towards freelance photography and writing so that she could share Alaska’s diverse wildlife and wilderness experiences with the public, interweaving science, traditional knowledge, art, and humor. Donna’s publication credits have included: the National Wildlife Federation, the National Audubon Society, Natural History Magazine, Alaska Magazine, and numerous others. Having lived almost 40 years in Alaska and traveled extensively throughout this vast state, the focus of her creative effort remains on its wildlife and doing everything possible to continue and enhance conservation efforts. Donna currently owns and operates Alaska Photo Source (DBA Donna Dewhurst Photography) which specializes in Alaskan wildlife, landscapes, places to visit and outdoor activities. She also sells stock photography through AccentAlaska.com. Her photographs can be viewed at: akpix.smugmug.com, and she can be contacted at: alaskaphotosource@live.com.
creative work:
Tufted Puffin “bad hair day”
This photo of a Tufted Puffin was taken on the Pribilof Islands, on the far western edge of the U.S. continental shelf in the Bering Sea, Alaska. The long golden head tufts of the Tufted Puffin are seasonal ornamental feathers that play a key role in breeding and social communication. During the breeding season, both males and females grow these distinctive plumes, which function primarily in mate attraction through sexual selection—birds with longer, fuller tufts likely signal better health and genetic quality. In dense nesting colonies, the tufts also enhance visual signaling, helping puffins recognize one another and communicate during interactions such as courtship displays and territorial disputes. Importantly, the tufts are energetically costly to produce and are shed after the breeding season, reinforcing their role as an honest indicator of fitness rather than a functional adaptation for flight or insulation. Overall, these striking plumes serve as a form of breeding finery, allowing Tufted Puffins to stand out and successfully navigate the complex social environment of crowded seabird colonies along the North Pacific coast. When it is windy– and it is usually windy on the Pribilof Islands– the plumes go wild and create a disheveled look for this otherwise elegant looking seabird.
Donna Dewhurst
Horned Puffins billing at colony
This photo of a Horned Puffins was taken at a cliff-side nesting colony on the Pribilof Islands, on the far western edge of the U.S. continental shelf in the Bering Sea, Alaska. Here we see a pair of puffins “billing” in the foreground, while other puffins stand around and watch. Billing behavior in the Horned Puffin—often called “billing” or “bill rubbing”—is a central part of courtship and pair bonding. During the breeding season, mates approach one another and gently press, rub, or rapidly tap their brightly colored bills together, sometimes accompanied by soft vocalizations and upright postures. This behavior reinforces the pair bond between mates that often reunite at the same nest site year after year. It also functions as a courtship display, helping synchronize breeding readiness and maintain cooperation between partners. Finally, billing may act as a signal of recognition, ensuring that individuals correctly identify their mate in dense colonies where many birds look similar. The bill itself—bright yellow with a red tip—is especially vivid during the breeding season, making these interactions highly visual. Billing is not aggressive; rather, it is a gentle, ritualized behavior that strengthens long-term partnerships essential for successfully raising a single chick in a challenging marine environment.
Donna Dewhurst