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Pigeon Guillemots Have Fun
© Paul Bannick
Although many seabirds utter ugly-sounding groans and croaks, the Pigeon Guillemot produces a lovely series of trills and whistles. As part of their courtship, they fly side by side in large circles and loops, a perfectly synchronized flying act. These guillemots do not breed until they are between three and five years old. The male chooses a site in a crevice or cave, among boulders, under driftwood, on a wharf, or even in a pipe. You can learn more about Pigeon Guillemots at Cornell's All About Birds.
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Pigeon Guillemots Have Fun
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Although many seabirds utter ugly-sounding groans and croaks, the Pigeon Guillemot produces this lovely series of trills and whistles.
[Long, trilling courtship call of the Pigeon Guillemots]
Black seabirds with large, white wing-patches and fire-engine-red feet, Pigeon Guillemots are the only seabirds that breed in Puget Sound. Colonies of from four to one hundred birds select a rocky cliff, sandy bluff, or manmade structure for their nesting territory.
Then the fun begins, as the birds engage in an elaborate courtship in the water near their burrows. Like playful children, they chase each other, dunk under the water, and appear to perform a game of leap frog, or “leap duck.” Then a pair will take off from the water and fly side by side in large circles and loops, a perfect synchronized flying act.
Courtship continues until the parents become busy tending their burrows high on the cliff. Soon after the young fledge, they join their parents on the water, and the whole colony departs the area.
The beach is quiet again until next spring, when the Pigeon Guillemots return and begin their playful, musical courtship anew.
[More guillemot calls]
Come find us on the web at BirdNote.org, where you can see photographs of all the birds we feature. I'm Frank Corrado.
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Written by Frances Wood
Call of the Pigeon Guillemot provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by G.A. Keller.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2010 Tune In to Nature.org June 2010
ID# 061505PIGUKPLU PIGU-01-FCr
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