Crested Auklet

The Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella) is a small, peculiar-looking seabird with a bright orange bill (during breeding season) and an eye-catching crest ornament, which is present in both sexes. Males and females prefer mates with large crests and have a distinctive tangerine odor to their plumage. During the breeding season, this bird is found only in the Bering Sea and adjacent North Pacific Ocean, and nests in colonies on remote coastlines and islands. They are an extremely social species and nest in mixed colonies with Least Auklets (Aethia pusilla) ranging in size from a few hundred to possibly more than a million pairs. Nests are located deep in rock crevices on sea-facing talus slopes, cliffs, boulder fields, and lava flows making it difficult to census them. Summer foods include marine invertebrates and less frequently fish and squid. Crested Auklets often forage in large flocks. To capture their food, birds dive from the surface and pursue the prey in underwater “flight”. In Alaska, Crested Auklets 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. The single exception to this is St. Matthew Island where the auklets feed on lower quality (less nutrient-rich), ocean shelf crustaceans.