No experience with puffin, but on a Snake River outing many years back we scored a very mixed duck bag. Mallard, pintail, gadwall, green wing teal, ring neck, golden eye, and a background coot that fell from the sky. We keep everything sorted and IDed during dressing, cooking, and serving, and the only universal rejection among 6 diners was the green wing teal. Even the coot got a passing grade, but I must admit we each received the smallest of shares on that one. I think one could score more volume from a robin.
Location, location, location...
Kodiak seaducks are mostly a bit fishy and only edible if you really insist on following the letter of the law...
But none of them are as bad as Kodiak mallards! The mallards eat nothing but salmon eggs for most of the season and are flat-out worse than any merganser, cormorant, or seaduck!!!
