Pigeon Guillemot

Description

Pigeon Guillemots are black birds with a distinct white wing bar and are about a foot long. They have red feet, which are often visible when birds are in flight, and the inside of their mouths is red. Their plumage becomes more mottled in winter, but the white wing bars are still distinct. Vagrant Black Guillemots, their Atlantic counterpart, may be found anytime in Prince William Sound but are rare. They are very similar in appearance, but the Pigeon Guillemot has a black line in the white wing patch, and the undersides of its wings are dark gray, not white like the Black Guillemot’s (ADF&G).

Pigeon Guillemots are present year-round from the Bering seacoast to southern California and are one of the most abundant diving seabirds in Southeast Alaska. They are alcids, diving birds that include murres, murrelets, auklets, and puffins. These birds “fly” underwater, swimming with their wings. Guillemots are more likely to dive and swim than to take off and fly in response to danger.

Habitat and Status

Pigeon Guillemots nest in loose colonies, often above rocky shores. A pair will lay two white, pale blue, or yellow, dark-spotted eggs, usually in small cavities and crevices in the rocks. They forage closer to shore than other Southeast alcids. Unlike murrelets, which generally feed in the water column on schooling fish such as herring, guillemots tend to dive to the seafloor (as deep as 600 feet!) and then hunt for fish along the bottom. Blennies, a small, eel-like fish, are a favorite food, and they will also eat mollusks, crustaceans, and marine worms.

Pigeon Guillemots are widely but sparsely distributed near the shore of the Chugach region (see map). It is one of only two monitored species not considered recovered from the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. An estimated 2,000–6,000 guillemots, representing 10–15% of the spill area population, died from acute oiling. This population has continued to decline, likely because of increased predation by river otters and mink, and reduced forage fish, specifically herring and sand lance. Climate envelope models suggest that Prince William Sound will become less favorable for pigeon guillemots through 2080 even as the southern Kenai Peninsula becomes more favorable.

Distribution of Pigeon Guillemots in the Chugach Region.

Traditional Use

Elders from dAXunhyuuga (Eyak people) recounted harvesting Cuu’aq, Cugaq, or “sea pigeon” eggs, reported to be the same color as seagull eggs (blue with mottled specks). The eggs have an orange yolk. Knowledge has it that clutch size makes a difference on whether eggs should be kept or not. Sophie Borodkin said, “And you got to know your eggs, honey. When there’s one in the nest, that’s real good. If there’s three in there, then it’s gonna turn. They’re not too good to keep for winter.”

Sea pigeon eggs taste “pretty fishy.” Elders reported not to eat these eggs raw but, rather, cook them any way you want – fry the eggs, scramble the eggs, or use them for baking (Borodkin 1981).