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The crested auklet (Aethia cristatella) is a small seabird of the family Alcidae, distributed throughout the northern Pacific and the Bering Sea. The species feeds by diving in deep waters, eating krill and a variety of small marine animals. It nests in dense colonies of up to 1 million individuals in the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk.
Two nests found in Washington were located only 150 feet (46 m) apart. Not all mature adults nest every year. [13] The clutch is a single egg. The nestlings fledge in 28 days. The young remain in the nest longer than other alcids and molt into their juvenile plumage before leaving the nest. [12] Fledglings fly directly from the nest to the ...
Auks are pelagic birds, spending the majority of their adult lives on the open sea and going ashore only for breeding, although some species, such as the common guillemot, spend a great part of the year defending their nesting spot from others. Auks are monogamous, and tend to form lifelong pairs.
In most seabird colonies several different species will nest on the same colony, often exhibiting some niche separation. Seabirds can nest in trees (if any are available), on the ground (with or without nests), on cliffs, in burrows under the ground and in rocky crevices. Colony size is a major aspect of the social environment of colonial birds.
Seabird eggs have also long been an important source of food for sailors undertaking long sea voyages, as well as being taken when settlements grow in areas near a colony. Eggers from San Francisco took almost half a million eggs a year from the Farallon Islands in the mid-19th century, a period in the islands' history from which the seabird ...
At sea, rhinoceros auklets feed on fish, with some krill and squid taken also. They feed inshore during the breeding season in the midwater. To catch their prey, they dive as deep as 57 meters (187 ft) for as long as 148 seconds. [7] Diet studies of nesting rhinoceros auklets show that their diet is variable depending on the location of the ...
Some of the larger petrels have to nest on windswept locations as they require wind to take off and forage for food. [27] Within the colonies, pairs defend usually small territories (the giant petrels and some albatrosses can have very large territories) which is the small area around either the nest or a burrow. Competition between pairs can ...
The brown noddy is a colonial bird, usually nesting on cliffs, trees, or bushes. It occasionally lays its eggs on the bare ground. The nest itself is usually a platform nest, made of sticks and twigs. [9] In their nuptial displays, the female and male bow and nod to each other.