Here Come The Clowns!

The Auklets - Least, Parakeet, and Crested - are one of the other groups of seabirds that nest on St. George Island in large numbers. However, in my opinion, they are not all that attractive, lacking much variety in plumage colors and with no distinctive pattern. Despite the lack of these attributes, these birds were really quite photogenic. I suppose that was because they were quite tame and they were vocal and animated. While I did not take as many photos of them as I did of puffins, I did fill up my cameras memory card with their images on many occasions. Below, all three species posed for me. From left to right - Parakeet, Least and Crested.Crested Auklets were not at all abundant on St. George, but I was fortunate to find them in a number of locations where they cooperated for some good photos. Other breeding areas to the north apparently have much greater numbers of this species and I just read a note where some birders on St. Lawrence Island estimated about a million of them passing a point near the town of Gambell on that island. It is easy to figure out how they got their name.Least Auklets were the smallest but by far most abundant of the group. Most apparently nested inland in the rock-fields below ridge lines where there were many burrows where they could remain relatively secure from predators, mostly Arctic Foxes.


Of the three species, I would probably rate the Parakeet Auklets as the most attractive, but that isn't saying much. They seemed to be quite a bit more abundant on the cliffs later in the season than the other species.