Disturbance and destruction of nesting habitat has been substantially reduced by using boardwalks in
auklet nesting areas, and educating visitors and other researchers about the sensitivity of Rhinoceros
Auklets to disturbance.
By comparing boat survey colony counts to later, repeated counts made at the colony, we determined that population sizes of parakeet
auklets and pigeon guillemots based on single counts were under-estimated by a factor of ca.
Mass death of seabirds in western US is 'unprecedented.' Why are so many
auklets, from California to Canada, starving?
Even before the scientific paper was published, Washington fisheries managers ordered the salmon boats they regulate to top their gill nets with 7 ft of white mesh and not to set their nets during the rhinoceros
auklets' busy feeding time at dawn.
Both the refuge and the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, the refuge's cooperator in monitoring seabird populations and managing SEFI, agreed that something was needed to reduce gull predation on petrels and
auklets. Biologists began exploring solutions and funding sources in early 1997.
We hypothesize that thick-billed murres, like least
auklets in Alaska (Obst et al., 1995), are willing to fly to more distant foraging grounds to obtain greater foraging success.
A previous study (8) involving rhinoceros
auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata) found that handheld glucometers consistently underestimated blood glucose concentrations, making the devices useful only for screening.
In contrast, Cassin's
auklets, chunky seabirds that breed on islands or cliff faces, routinely pick up new mates within days of a divorce.
Larder hoarding has been reported more frequently for arctic foxes, that presumably select this strategy at high latitudes characterized by extreme seasonal shifts in food conditions (Braestrup, 1941); prey includes small, burrowing seabirds (i.e.,
auklets, storm-petrels, puffins; Gibson, 1922; Freuchen, 1935; Murie, 1959; Savage and Cooper, 1982; present study) and voles and lemmings (Fielden, 1877; Stephenson, 1970).
See puffins, shearwaters,
auklets, humpback and blue whales, elephant seals.
Early observations pointed to abundant nesting by Cassin's
Auklets until at least 1948 on Langara Island and at least 1952 on Cox Island (Beebe 1960; Drent and Guiguet 1961).
Additionally, they are one of the 2 most important prey for Common Murres (Uria aalge) and Rhinoceros
Auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata; Lance and Thompson 2005), and can comprise up to 67% of the diet of Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in regional populations (Norris and others 2007).
Occasional examples of sequential molt have been found in several other species of murrelets,
auklets, and puffins that normally undergo synchronous molt (Harris and Yule 1977; Bedard and Sealy 1984; Pyle 2009).
Several other islands with thousands of burrow-nesting seabirds (mainly storm-petrels [Oceanodroma spp.], Cassin's
Auklets [Ptychoramphus aleuticus], and Rhinoceros
Auklets [Cerorhinca monocerata]), occur in nearby Queen Charlotte Strait, the largest at Pine Island (80 ha; forested) and the smaller forested Storm Islands, Reid Islets, Tree Islets, and Buckle Group.
Diving depths, diet and underwater foraging of Rhinoceros
Auklets. Canadian Journal of Zoology 71:2528-2540.
