Which
bird is it?
Crested Auklet
Aethia cristatella
This auklet is largely confined to the Bering Sea
region, where it typically nests in huge colonies on islands near
cold, saline water currents. Colonies of 250,000 or more of the species
occur on some of the Aleutian Islands, and 28,000 Crested Auklets
nest on St. George Island in the Pribilofs.
Nesting is in rocky talus slopes, where cobble and boulders provide
a labyrinth of cracks and crevices in which to lay eggs. Several species
of auklets frequently nest together in mixed colonies. A single egg
is laid in a bare cavity in the talus.
Crested Auklets forage at ocean depths, perhaps to 40 meters (130
feet), on small, abundant, planktonic crustaceans, especially euphausiids,
amphipods, and copepods. The adults carry food for the chicks back
to the talus slopes in special gular (throat) pouches.
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