ALCIDS Alcidae Auks and relatives
Alcids (or auks) fill a similar ecological niche in the northern hemisphere as penguins do in the southern hemisphere, except alcids can fly ... and can fly long distances. The top photo is of a mixed group of Rhinoceros Auklets and Common Murres in flight over Monterey Bay in February, some having flown thousands of miles from Alaska to reach that rich pelagic wintering locale.

To quote Nettleship (1996), alcids are "a highly specialized and ecologically diverse group of marine, wing-propelled pursuit-diving birds." Many live at high northern latitudes — like this group of Crested and Least Auklets (left) on St. Lawrence I., Alaska — where their fat well-insulated bodies and comical appearances add to the feeling that they recall "northern penguins." Like penguins, though, some species reach tropical latitudes.

 
In the north Pacific, a diverse set of species pursue krill and bait fish in cold waters throughout the day, coming ashore only during the short breeding season to nest in crevices or offshore islets protected from predators. Some small species only fly to their burrows after dark, so as to avoid predation by gulls. With such a wide variety of species sometimes competing in the same waters, body and bill sizes have distinctly evolved to carve out specialized niches. No alcids have a more dramatically modified bill than the three species of puffin (Fratercula). The Tufted Puffin (right, in a wonderful shot © Ron LeValley) ranges from Alaska to California. The southernmost permanent colony is on the Farallone Islands, 27 mi W of San Francisco (where this shot was taken). The five species of alcids that nest there have been very well studied over the past few decades (Ainley & Boekelheide 1990), providing much information about, for example, the effects of El Niño on these species. 
I live on the shores of Monterey Bay, California, where ten alcid taxa (currently considered 9 species until Xantus's Murrelet Synthliboramphus h. hypoleucus and S. h. scrippsi are split) are regular, and three more species occur as vagrants. Thus over half of the world's alcids may be encountered here, and all are covered on either my Monterey Bay pelagic birds or Monterey Bay rarities pages. Each has a difficult ecology and timing. The Craveri's Murrelet (below left) is a late summer/early fall visitor in warm water years from breeding grounds off Baja California, Mexico. Its identification at sea can be difficult because of "Scripp's" Xantus's Murrelet (see "Monterey's Ten Most Misidentified" birds for a discussion). Interestingly, its name should be spelled "Craveris' Murrelet" because it was named for two brothers (see Olsen 1996) but checklist committees have, as yet, failed to correct this error. The plumage of Craveri's Murrelet is the same year-round. In contrast, Pigeon Guillemot (below right) has a black summer (alternate) plumage which it molts for a pale winter (basic) plumage. Pigeon Guillemot is a common breeding under the wharves and piers of Monterey harbor and Cannery Row from March-October, but all but a few leave during the winter. It is now believed that these birds migrate north to winter in the Puget Sound vicinity.

Most alcids nest in dense colonies. Murres nest on inaccessible ledges so closely packed together that the eggs or chicks are protected entirely by the adults. Many smaller species nest underground in burrows or crevices. Most pairs produce but one young a year; it is very common in the late summer and fall to see father Common Murres with their single chick feeding and foraging together on Monterey Bay. The exceptions are guillemots (with inshore habitats) or Synthliboramphus murrelets, whose young leave the nest to follow the adults very early. The Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus nests mostly in old growth forests where a single egg is laid hundreds of feet off the ground on a thick mossy limb. This inaccessible habitat was responsible for its being the final North American species to have its nest discovered, in Big Basin Redwoods park in the Santa Cruz Mts., in 1974 (Binford et al. 1975).

There were flightless alcids in historic times past, the most recent of which was the Great Auk Pinguinus impennis. It occupied boreal latitudes across the north Atlantic, and was easy prey to whalers and eggers. The last pair known were collected for a museum on a small island off Iceland on 2 June 1844.

Photos: The flock at the top is composed of Rhinoceros Auklet Cerorhinca monocerata and Common Murre Uria aalge in flight over Monterey Bay, California, on 9 Feb 2003.  The rock on St. Lawrence I., Alaska, in June 1980 has three Crested Auklet  Aethia cristatella and two Least Auklet  A. pusilla. Ron LeValley took the fine shot of an adult Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrhata on S.E. Farallon I., California, where it was near its nesting crevice. The Craveri's Murrelet Synthliboramphus craveri was inside Moss Landing harbor, Monterey Co., California, on 7 Oct 1978; this is the only one ever to be seen inside the harbor, and this is the photograph I have sold the most often, as good shots of this enigmatic species are difficult to locate. The adult Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba was in Monterey harbor, California, on 18 Apr 1995. All photos © 2003 Don Roberson, except the Tufted Puffin © 2003 Ron LeValley, used with permission; all rights reserved.

Bibliographic note

There is a family book in the uniformly solid Oxford Press series on bird families of the world (Gaston & Jones), but I have not yet seen it. The Atlantic alcidae were thoroughly covered by Nettleship & Birkhead (1985). The account by Nettleship (1996) in the Handbook of the Birds of the World series is a very fine introduction.

Literature cited:

Ainley, D.G., and R.J. Boekelheide, eds. 1990. Seabirds of the Farallon Islands. Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford, CA.

Binford, L.C., B.G. Elliott, and S.W. Singer. 1975. Discovery of a nest and the downy young of the Marbled Murrelet. Wilson Bull. 87:303-319.

Olsen, S.L. 1996. The name of the Craveri Brothers' Murrelet. West. Birds 27:167-168.

Nettleship, D.N., and T.R. Birkhead, eds. 1985. The Atlantic Alcidae: the Evolution, Distribution and Biology of the Auks inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent water areas. Academic Press, London.

Nettleship, D. 1996. Family Alcidae (Alcids). Pp. 678-722 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

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