Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba

Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba

Pigeon Guillemot, Vancouver, Canada, May 2009 - click on image for a larger view

Vancouver, Canada
May 2009

The Pigeon Guillemot is distributed round the northern rim of the Pacific from Kamchatka through the Bering Straits to Alaska and south to California. It breeds on sea cliffs and rocky coastlines and is usually seen in relatively shallow water.

In this respect it is like the very similar Black Guillemot C. grylle of the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans with which it forms a superspecies. It has a long, pointed, black bill with red lining, a white wing patch and red legs.

There is a map showing the distribution in North America at NatureServe and there is additional information available at Avibase.

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