#Aethia cristatella

[snototter]

A crested auklet (Aethia cristatella) sits cliffside on St Paul Island, Alaska, USA

by Isaac Sanchez

[birdblues]

Crested Auklet

[lazer-t]

Crested Auklet for a $5 Ko-fi supporter

[bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: Crested Auklet

^Image credit: F. Deines

Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella)

Crested Auklets have a range of remarkable traits used for mating. These include their crests, loud 'trumpet' calls, and a distinct scent like that of citrus fruit. Crested Auklets with larger crests are more likely to obtain mates.

[internetdruid]

🥚 (I've seen so many new birds thanks to this ask game and I love it 💜)

Well here's another one

crested auklet!

(Aethia cristatella)

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Rowdy & raunchy: For eight weeks each spring, crested auklet (Aethia cristatella) crowd shorelines and vie for mates. Males flash feathers, contract their pupils (pictured above), yap like small dogs, and—if they find a potential mate—release a tangerine-scented substance that may act like an aphrodisiac.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARIE READ, NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

[herpsandbirds]

hello! do you have any favorite seabirds? i work with northern hemisphere cold water species but lots of love for the antarctic and tropical seabirds as well, they're just too far away and/or too equatorial for my heat intolerance

Favorite Sea Birds:

Yes, absolutely, I really love the Alcids (auks), especially Dovekie and Razorbill.

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), family Alcidae, order Charadriiformes, North Atlantic

photograph by sarah.bethea

Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella), family Alcidae, order Charadriiformes, Kiska Island, Alaska

photograph via: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Razorbill (Alca torda), family Alcidae, order Charadriiformes, Quebec, Canada

Photograph by Simon Boivin

Dovekie aka Little Auk (Alle alle), family Alcidae, order Charadriiformes, Svalbard, Norway

Photograph by Allan Hopkins

[alonglistofbirds]

[2743/11080] Crested auklet - Aethia cristatella

Order: Charadriiformes Suborder: Lari Family: Alcidae (auks)

Photo credit: Phillip Edwards via Macaulay Library

[spinus-pinus]

Crested Auklet and Parakeet Auklet Aethia cristatella and A. psittacula

7/16/2024 St. Paul Island, Alaska

Sam Darmstadt via iNaturalist, CC-BY-NC

[fascinator-birds]

Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella)

© Lars Petersson

[kiss-kiss-bird-in-love]

Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella)

© Lars Petersson

[aesthetic-birds]

Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella)

© Lars Petersson

[birdblues]

Crested Auklet

[ainawgsd]

The crested auklet (Aethia cristatella) is a small seabird of the family Alcidae, distributed throughout the northern Pacific and the Bering Sea. The species feeds by diving in deep waters, eating krill and a variety of small marine animals. It nests in dense colonies of up to 1 million individuals in the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. The species is known for its sexual ornaments, found in both males and females. These include colorful plumage with a forehead crest, a striking scent recalling citrus fruit, and a loud trumpet call, all of which appear to have evolved through sexual selection.

The crested auklet can measure 7.1–10.6 inches in length, 13–20 inches in wingspan and weigh 195–330 g.They have a reddish-orange and yellow tipped bill, yellowish white irises, and white auricular plumes from their eyes to their ears. Their bodies, wings, and tails are primarily dark sooty grey, while their legs and feet are grey and claws black. The males and females are very similar, although the females have slightly smaller and less curved bills, additionally slightly smaller crests. In winter plumage, their bills are smaller and dull yellow. They lack accessory plates and their crest and auricular plumes are reduced.

Crested auklets are known for their forehead crests, which is made of black forward-curving feathers. These forehead crests are highly variable, and can have between two and twenty three narrow forward curving feathers. The average auklet has 12 crest feathers, which are of variable length, between 8.1 and 58.5 millimetres. Auklets have auricular plumes and a bright orange bill with curved accessory plates. Like forehead crests, these features vary widely within auklet populations.

Crested auklets produce a social odor during the breeding season, described as smelling like tangerines. This odor originates from tiny wick feathers, located in a small patch of skin between the shoulder blades.The scent is released when there is ruffling of feathers on the nape and upper back of the individual from threat, trumpeting, or billing displays. The cloud of scent released encourages the ruff sniff display, when birds fully insert their half open bill into the other's plumage. This display occurs in the absence of obvious aggression and is important for pair formation. For both sexes, a strong odor attracts more individuals.Odor secretions increase during the breeding season, highlighting its association with courtship and mate selection. The scent may also act as an ectoparasite repellent. 

Crested auklets are highly social during the breeding season, before pair formation, and after pair formation. Within a breeding year, however, crested auklets are monogamous, with only 10% of the population having extra-pair copulations. Partners continue to self-advertise to other birds when they are not incubating. While some of this advertising behavior can be linked to extra-pair mating, it is suggested that continuation of the behavior allows birds to find pairs for the next breeding season. Only 45.5% of birds remain with the same partner in the subsequent breeding season.

Crested auklets are found throughout the northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. They are particularly prevalent during the non-breeding winter months along the Aleutian Islands, Kuril Islands and the Russian island of Sakhalin. They travel to breeding locations on the islands and shorelines of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea during the late spring and summer. Their habitats consist of slopes, boulder fields, lava flows, and sea cliffs.

According to the IUCN, crested auklets are a species of least concern. The global population exceeds 8.2 million individuals, while the North American population is estimated at 2.9 million birds. However, an accurate assessment of the number of birds is difficult, since those on the surface of the colony and in the nearby sea form only a small proportion of the variable and poorly understood population. There is greater concern for the Alaskan population. There has been high predation by rats which have escaped from fishing vessels in the harbor. Oil spills and collisions with light sources (such as fishing boats) pose additional risks.

[artmagenta]

The crested auklet (Aethia cristatella) is a small seabird of the family Alcidae, distributed throughout the northern Pacific and the Bering Sea. #birds #auklet #auks #birdwatching #birdart #birdpainting #animalart #ulf #artmagenta #procreateart https://www.instagram.com/p/COafxOfghIe/?igshid=wii4xjij8bxz

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Crested auklets (Aethia cristatella) pair interacting while perched on rock, St Paul Island, Pribilofs, Alaska, USA, July.

Photographer: Marie Read