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Least Auklets: Seabirds in Miniature
This tiny alcid is no bigger than a sparrow.
© Budgora
The family of seabirds called alcids is an eclectic bunch that includes puffins and murres. The largest alcids are about the size of a duck, but the smallest — called the Least Auklet — could fit in the palm of your hand. With their short wings whirring, these miniature seabirds look like swarms of feathered bumblebees as they forage for tiny crustaceans on the ocean’s surface. Least Auklets form massive breeding colonies on rocky islands of the north Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. In August, when the young birds are ready to take their first flight, millions of auklets scatter to the winds across the northern seas.
BirdNote®
Least Auklets: Seabirds in Miniature
Adapted from a script by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[Sound of a waves crashing]
The family of seabirds called alcids is an eclectic bunch, including the comically colorful puffins and dashingly tuxedoed murres. The largest alcids are about the size of a duck, but the smallest — called the Least Auklet — is no bigger than a sparrow.
[Least Auklets]
Barely 6 inches tall, the Least Auklet could fit in the palm of your hand. It has a black back and white belly that turns a splotchy grey during the breeding season, when it also sports attractive ornaments like white facial plumes and a little bitty upright horn on its beak.
Least Auklets flock together, often by the hundreds or thousands. Short wings whirring, the miniature alcids look like swarms of feathered bumblebees. They dive below the ocean’s surface to gobble up teeny crustaceans.
[Least Auklets]
In the summer, Least Auklets form massive breeding colonies on rocky islands of the north Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. In August, when the young birds are ready to take their first flight, millions of auklets scatter to the winds across the northern seas. But scientists still don't know precisely where Least Auklets ride the winter waves till spring — a big mystery for a tiny bird.
[Sound of waves crashing in the ocean]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing ProducerL Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Least Auklet ML 214748 recorded by Gerrit Vyn.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote July 2025
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# LEAU-01-2025-7-7 LEAU-01
Michael Stein
Narrator