Pigeon Guillemot

Cepphus columba

Pacific seabird with bright red feet and a wheezy whistle. Carries fish one at a time, crossways in its bill.

Population: ~235,000 individuals (dated 1993 estimate cited in BirdLife/IUCN's current 2018 assessment; population trend stable to slightly increasing, precise current count lacking)
Habitat: Rocky coastlines, sea cliffs, and offshore islands adjacent to shallow (under ~50 m deep) coastal waters, including subtidal reefs and kelp forests; nests in rock crevices, burrows, and other cavities on rocky shores
Fun fact: Unlike most auks, which steer with their feet but swim underwater using only their wings, the Pigeon Guillemot is unusual in using both its wings and its bright red feet for underwater propulsion while diving.
Range: North Pacific coastal waters, breeding from the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia) through the Aleutian Islands and coastal Alaska, British Columbia, and south along the US Pacific coast to California; winters closer to the breeding range than most auks, with some populations moving into Bering Sea pack-ice areas
Diet: Small benthic/nearshore fish (sculpins, sandfish, sandlance, gunnels, herring, capelin, cod) and marine invertebrates (shrimp, crabs, marine worms, mollusks, squid, octopus) caught by pursuit-diving to the seafloor
Size: 0.33 m
Wingspan: 0.57 m
Lifespan: 17 years

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