Aves |
Charadriiformes |
Alcidae
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Others; depth range 0 - 59 m (Ref. 62201). Subtropical; 70°N - 32°N, 127°E - 117°W (Ref. 125423)
Pacific Ocean and the Arctic. From Alaska, Chukchi and Bering Sea, south to Aleutian Islands, east to California, USA and Canada and west to Japan and Russia. Subtropical to polar.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cmmax. published weight: 779.00 g (Ref. 356)
Culmen: 5.84 cm; tarsus: 3.61 cm; wing: 20.055 cm.
A large alcid, about 40 cm in length. Plunge diver; continental shelf; <100 km (Ref. 356). Semi-precocial mode of development. Ground nesting species; in burrows. When spotting a threat, adults give out alarm calls to warn chicks who respond by moving to a nearby hiding place. Displays "group flight" behavior. Vulnerable to oil pollution as a piscivore; saw 50% decline in population from 1989 in Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill (Ref. 87784). Captures and eats prey underwater except food carried to chicks. Tends to forage more offshore in shelf and shelf-edge waters than coastally (Ref. 62201).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Gjerdrum, C. 2004. (Ref. 80101)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
CITES status (Ref. 108899)
Not Evaluated
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Human uses
| FishSource |
Tools
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature
(Ref.
115969): 1.2 - 9.7, mean 4.3 (based on 370 cells).
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=18.83-42.19).
Price category
Unknown.
