Birder’s Notebook: Pigeon Guillemot––A sporty seabird with bright red leggings

Pigeon guillemots may not have the celebrity status of their puffin relatives, but this lesser-known seabird of the Bering Strait region is equally handsome, charismatic and a favorite of mine.

Birds of the North Pacific, pigeon guillemots are found along rocky coastlines from the Bering Sea to southern California. The largest breeding concentrations are at opposite ends of their range––in the Farallon Islands, California, and on the Chukchi Peninsula in Russia.

In the Bering Strait region, these distinctive seabirds in the alcid family (see sidebar) are less common than murres and puffins, but small numbers can be found along coastal cliffs and rocky shores of the Seward Peninsula.

Larger numbers nest on islands in Norton Sound and the Bering Strait. Historically King Island has had large numbers of nesting pigeon guillemots and they are common breeders on St. Lawrence Island.

When the shoreline is ice-free, isolated pairs or small colonies of pigeon guillemots arrive to nest in coastal cliff crevices, between boulders, or in burrows above the high tide line, often on small islands where they are protected from predators.

Pairs are monogamous for multiple breeding seasons and return regularly to their previous breeding areas. Males come first to defend the nest site. When females arrive, elaborate courtship ensues.

The pair engages in playful zigzagging chases on and under the water and fly in synchronized circles and loops accompanied by high-pitched whistles and trills. On land the guillemot’s bright red legs, feet and mouth-lining are flaunted as the male circles or jumps over his mate, showing off his fancy red feet amidst billtouching.

Lively courtship displays continue until the parents become busy tending their nest. In this region egg laying typically begins in the later part of June. Most birds in the alcid family lay only one egg, but guillemots may lay two.

Incubation averages 30 days and eggs typically hatch between late July and early August. Guillemot parents share incubation, brooding and chick rearing duties.

The chicks are downy with open eyes when they hatch. They can stand within hours but remain in the nest crevice until they fledge. The parents bring them small fish throughout the day and night. Unlike puffins that bring many fish in their bills to feed their young, guillemots carry only one fish at a time, pressing it with their tongue into sharp serrations in the upper jaw.

Towards the end of August, the first young fledge after an average of 35 days. The fledglings are well developed when they leave the nest, usually at night, fluttering or scrambling to the water. They can swim, dive and feed themselves immediately but need two to three weeks to develop strong flight. When the young fledge, they become independent of the parents.

Unlike other alcids that fly far out to sea to fish in deep waters, guillemots feed close to shore throughout the year and near their nesting area during the breeding season. They typically dive to the seafloor, swimming with their wings and using their feet for both steering and propulsion. This too differs from the behavior of other alcids, which use their feet only for steering when swimming.

Guillemots can dive as deep as 150 feet, but generally feed in 30 to 60 feet of water pursuing small fish or crustaceans along the sea bottom or probing in crevices and vegetation for fish and invertebrates.

The guillemot’s short, rounded wings perform better for swimming underwater than for taking flight. So, when faced with a threat they often dive rather than fly. Guillemots fly with rapid wing beats, usually within 10 feet of water, and use their outstretched, red, webbed feet as rudders when turning.

By mid-September most pigeon guillemots have left Seward Peninsula waters and few are seen near St. Lawrence Island after mid-October. They winter along the Aleutians and in the southern Bering Sea as far north as the Pribilofs, staying south of the ice edge.

Pigeon guillemots aren’t able to breed until they are three years old. Many of the guillemots seen around nesting colonies are young, nonbreeding birds. Lack of suitable nest sites sometimes prevents

mature birds from breeding until they are four or five years old. These mature nonbreeders, unable to find nest sites, are called “floaters.”

The availability of nest sites and an adequate food supply are probably the main factors limiting total population size, which is unknown but thought to be declining.

All alcid species are increasingly threatened by climate change, which is decreasing populations of the fish they prey upon. Research south of the Bering Strait region found that pigeon guillemot breeding attempts may fail in years of unusually warm ocean temperatures, and that in years of food scarcity 65 percent to 100 percent of pigeon guillemots fail to lay eggs.

The pigeon guillemot’s vast and widespread breeding range makes their overall population perhaps less vulnerable and more adaptable to changes in the ocean ecosystem than are many other less wideranging seabirds. (photo bottom right)—

Photo by Rodney Ungwiluk Jr. PIGEON GUILLEMOT PAIR— This pair of pigeon guillemots shows their distinctive features during the breeding season––dark-brown, almost black, velveteen plumage, a bold white patch on the upper wing and eye-catching scarlet legs and feet with a mouth lining to match. The stunning legs and feet can often be seen in the water and during flight, when they are used as rudders. As is the case for all alcids, males and females are identical.

Photo by Kate Persons JUVENILE PIGEON GUILLEMOT— A juvenile pigeon guillemot was feeding along the shore of the Teller spit in early September. Adult winter plumage is similar to that of this juvenile. By the middle of September most pigeon guillemots leave Norton Sound for wintering areas in the southern Bering Sea.

Photo by Rodney Ungwiluk Jr. Photo by Rodney Ungwiluk Jr. SAND LANCE (photo top right)— A pigeon guillemot has caught a sand lance, an important prey species for many marine predators—from birds and fish to marine mammals—due to its high fat content. Guillemots carry only a single fish in their bills, unlike puffins that may carry many at a time. BLACK GUILLEMOT A black guillemot in winter plumage, fishing off of St. Lawrence Island in January, brought up a sculpin from the seafloor. This other guillemot species, the black guillemot, migrates through the Bering Strait region to and from its arctic breeding grounds. They winter in leads in the pack ice and are sometimes seen in Norton Sound before freeze-up.