Sunday, May 24, 2015

Parakeet Auklet: Day 178


On the west coast of North America, from Baja to the Gulf of Alaska, two types of stocky burrow nesting seabirds called auklets occur, the Cassin's and rhinoceros auklet. Here in the Bering Sea, and throughout the Aleutian Island chain, a higher diversity of more decorated species of auklets can be found, and the most widely distributed of all Alaskan auklets is the parakeet auklet. What sets this species apart is their nearly circular orange bill, which due to its shape likely aids in the capture of gelatinous prey such as jellies. These chatty birds lay a single egg in crevices within the jumbled black volcanic rock cliff faces here on St. Paul, and are often standing around in pairs during the day. They breed throughout the summer months, and disperse far out to sea in the winter.

Canon EOS 60D, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM + 1.4x, ISO-400 f/5.6 @ 1/500 sec.

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