Pigeon Guillemot - Cepphus columba

On an outing to Bodega Bay last week we stopped at the Bodega Head overlook, where some friends called us over to check out a pair of Pigeon Guillemots that were perhaps contemplating a nesting site. It's not often we get leisurely looks at these pelagic birds, and they are usually bobbing along beyond the breaking waves, when not diving for fish like a penguin.

The Pigeon Guillemots nest on island or rocky cliffs, usually in a cavity

The Pigeon Guillemot is an alcid (auk) of the Pacific Northwest. Ours are mostly year-round residents, feeding just off rocky shorelines where they dive to the bottom for fish and other critters. They use their wings to "swim" underwater, sort of like penguins, and paddle a bit with their striking red feet. The species is very similar to the Black Guillemot of the Atlantic, which lacks a black wedge on the white wing patch (you can just see a bit of the wedge in one photo - seen better when they fly).

Note the black "wedge" on the white wing patch, seen on the Pigeon but not the Black Guillemot

Better view here of the bright red webbed foot.

Taxonomy-

Order: Charadriiformes - Assorted group that includes the shorebirds, gulls, terns and alcids.

Family: Alcidae - The alcids, or auks. Included in this group of diving seabirds birds are the Auks and Auklets, Murres and Murrelets, Puffins, Razorbill, Dovekie, and the Guillemots. 23 species worldwide, 21 of them seen along our coasts. The families within Charadriiformes are being rearranged now, and word has it (ABA Blog) that the Alcids will be placed between the Skuas and the Gulls.

Genus: Cepphus - 3 species. Besides the Pigeon and Black there is the Spectacled Guillemot seen along the coast from Russia down to Korea.

Species: Cepphus columba - Pigeon Guillemot. 5 regional subspecies. Our is C. c. eureka, seen from Oregon to California.