Wildlife Spotlight:  Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus Columba)

By Barton Creeth
Published: June 2006

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Photo credit: Jamie Hall.

Pigeon Guillemots (Cepphus Columba) are stocky black birds readily identified by their white wing patches and brilliant red feet and legs. They can be seen bobbing atop coastal waters near rocky shorelines from Alaska to California. Pigeon Guillemots often nest in loose colonies, though they are frequently found nesting singly. The male chooses the nesting site, preferring sandy bluffs and rocky cliffs, but sometimes chooses human-made structures such as wharfs and large open pipes. In crevices and small cavities, Pigeon Guillemots scrape into the soil and sand with their pointy beaks and sharp toes to form a small bed for their eggs.

Unlike most members of the auk and puffin family (alcids), who lay one egg, Pigeon Guillemots lay two, sometimes three eggs. For four weeks both parents take turns incubating the eggs. The chicks hatch covered in black down feathers and take about four to six weeks to leave the nest. Once they do, they can swim and dive, but it takes another three weeks until they can fly.

Pigeon Guillemots are pursuit-diving seabirds that forage near rocky shorelines on small demeral fish such as pricklebacks, sculpins, and gunnels. Although  Pigeon Guillemots can dive up to 150 feet, they have the most success in waters of only 30 to 40 feet. They use their wings and feet to propel themselves, appearing to fly under water. During nesting season, parents bring their chicks up to sixteen loads a day. The chicks eat the fish whole, head first. 

Especially vulnerable to oil spills and other forms of pollution, pigeon guillemot populations have in recent decades experienced an alarming decline. On Good Friday, March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez  struck Bligh Reef on its way south out of Prince William Sound and discharged some eleven million gallons of oil into the surrounding Alaskan ocean. It is estimated that some 250,000 seabirds were killed as a direct result of the spilled oil. More than fifteen years later, it is difficult to gauge the long-term effects of the oil spill on Pigeon Guillemots but experts agree that Pigeon Guillemots have been slow to recover in areas affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Spring time offers the chance to witness the spectacle of the Pigeon Guillemot “water-dance.” Several pairs gather in lines and call, dive, chase each other and parade around exhibiting their bright red mouths. A great place to look for Pigeon Guillemots are the rocky cliffs near Bodega Bay, in Sonoma County.