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Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Cepphus grylle

Identify the Black Guillemot by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Black Guillemot is a compact auk of North Atlantic and Arctic coasts, often seen close to shore around rocky islands and harbours. In summer it is black with a bold white wing patch and bright coral-red feet and mouth. It is mostly resident, although High Arctic birds move south when the sea freezes, and it hunts close to shore for bottom-dwelling prey.

Did you know?

  • Its feet and the lining of its mouth are vivid red, especially striking in the breeding season.
  • Unlike many auks, it often feeds very close to shore and nests in piers and breakwaters.

Voice

Sound

About the species

Identification

A black-and-white auk: in summer it is all dark with a sharply defined white wing patch, red legs and a black bill. In winter it is mottled black, grey and white; young birds are similarly mottled with a brownish tinge on the front. The shrill whistle helps identification. The white wing patch separates it from Razorbill and guillemots.

Family

Alcidae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

black, white, red

About the habitat

Rocky coasts, skerries, boulder-strewn islands and harbour structures; winters on inshore waters and along ice edges.

Diet

Mainly small bottom-dwelling fish such as gunnels, sculpins and sand eels, as well as crustaceans, molluscs and other invertebrates, taken by short, shallow dives among kelp and on the sea floor.

Behaviour

Dives using its wings, foraging singly or in pairs close inshore; often perches on rocks and breakwaters and gives thin, high, whistling calls, showing the red inside of its mouth. It usually breeds in solitary pairs or small groups, nesting in crevices, among boulders or in man-made structures. Both parents incubate the two eggs and feed the chicks with single fish; the young fledge after several weeks and leave alone.

Sources

Photo: Colgill, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yesnaby Cliffs 2018.jpg

Sound: Gunther Tschuch, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Papa_Westray_Cepphus_grylle.wav

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_guillemot

See also