Unusual Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella)

Observation: A Crested Auklet made its way down to Nelson Lagoon. These birds are known to live in the Pribilof Islands on St. Paul and St. George. This is frightening because we have never seen them so far south before. There has been news reports of puffin die-off in St. Paul along with the recent Murre die-off’s that were posted on LEO Network. Are the difference species of bird ecosystems failing or in the process of change? I wonder if that is why this bird flew to Nelson Lagoon.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Consult: Dr. Kathy Kuletz, Biologist writes, "While these auklets do not typically show up in a lagoon, this bird was within its range. As the USFWS blurb notes, they nest in the Aleutians and south to the Shumagins, as well as the Pribilof Islands and farther north. During winter these birds disperse at sea, and they have shown up in low densities (birds/km2) along both sides of the Alaska Peninsula (Figure 1.). During winter, especially after storms or periods with poor foraging conditions, many seabirds that typically spend the non-breeding season in offshore waters may seek calmer seas inshore. In the map below, the white hexagons are areas where at-sea surveys were conducted but no birds were observed. Darker shades of orange indicate higher densities of birds. For each cell, the mean density was calculated from all 3-km transect segments that fell within the cell."

Coastal Observation And Seabird Survey Team (COASST) Consult: Dr. Julia Parrish, Executive Director writes, "Crested Auklets occasionally wash ashore in the Bering and Chukchi in unusual numbers. This was the case in November 2013 on St. Lawrence Island when sentinels found 898 (!!) carcasses along ~18 km of coastline between Gambell and Saavonga. About 60% of those carcasses were Crested Auklets (Figure 2. Graph). This year we’ve heard about unusually late sighting of live Crested Auklets, as well as Tufted Puffins, off St. Lawrence and also farther south on the Pribilof Islands. On St. Paul, Crested Auklets started to wash ashore in December, and have continued on and off to the present (also see earlier LEO posts). Posts from LEO members about any sightings of beached birds (either dead, or in grave condition) are especially important across the Bering and Chukchi this year, so that we can document the timing and geographic extent of this unusual mortality event. More information will be available at the Alaska Forum on the Environment 2017, when BeringWatch collaborator and ASCPI ECO co-Director Lauren Divine will be speaking on these die-offs." Source: University of Washington

Resources:

World Seabird Union (WSU) – A global seabird information portal: The Seabird Information Network is a network of databases from contributors all over the world. Please click here to visit the Seabird Information Network. The World Seabird Union's mission is to place seabird research, management, and conservation into a worldwide perspective. Our vision is to aid in creating global partnerships that will continue into the future by sharing research, knowledge, and ideas on a global level.

eBird – Provides reports of locations where the species has been observed, submitted by citizen scientists worldwide. Source: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology & The Audubon Society

National Audubon Society – Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella), "Open sea; nests in colonies on sea cliffs. Often over deep water far from land, but may forage near shore where there is turbulence caused by upwellings, tide rips, or tidal flow in passes between islands. Nests on rocky islands among boulders, talus slopes, lava flows, cliffs with many openings and crevices."

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – Crested Auklets (Athia cristatella), "are found in the Bering Sea, on the Aleutian Islands, and on the Shumagin Islands. A total of 43 colony sites are known with notable centers of breeding abundance in the northern Bering Sea and the western Aleutian Islands. Virtually all colonies are on volcanic islands adjacent to deep water or where deep oceanic water, filled with energy-rich crustaceans, is transported past the colonies." Source: Migratory Bird Management, Alaska Region (Alaska, 2006)