Crested Auklet
| Crested Auklet | |
|---|---|
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Alcidae |
| Genus: | Aethia |
| Species: | A. cristatella |
| Binomial name | |
| Aethia cristatella (Pallas, 1769) |
|
The Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella) is a small seabird of the family Alcidae which nests in huge colonies (>1 million individuals) in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk. They often breed in mixed-species colonies with Least Auklets, their smaller congener.
The Crested Auklet can measure 18–27 cm (7.1–11 in) in length, 34–50 cm (13–20 in) in wingspan and weigh 195–330 g (6.9–12 oz).[2] It is recognized primarily by two characters in the breeding season. The first is its 'crest', a group of bristle feathers located above its eye on the top of its head. The second is a social odor that the auklets produce during the breeding season, which has been described as smelling like tangerines.
Crested Auklets are planktivores. Their diet consists mainly of krill, but they are also known to eat copepods, pteropods (such as Limacina), amphipods and larval fishes. Their main predators are Herring Gulls[disambiguation needed 
] and other gulls, Arctic Fox and ravens, but they have been reported in the stomachs of halibut caught on St. Lawrence Island.
[edit] References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aethia cristatella |
- ^ BirdLife International (2008). Aethia cristatella. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 February 2009.
- ^ CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), ISBN 978-0849342585.
- "National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
- Seabirds, an Identification Guide by Peter Harrison, (1983) ISBN 0-7470-1410-8
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 3, Josep del Hoyo editor, ISBN 84-87334-20-2
- "National Audubon Society" The Sibley Guide to Birds, by David Allen Sibley, ISBN 0-679-45122-6
- "Aethia cristatella". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=177019. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
[edit] External links
- Crested Auklet Images http://tsuru-bird.net/image.htm Copyright 2009 - Monte M. Taylor
