Dovekie
Alle alle
Tiny waterbird, the size of an elongated grapefruit. In nonbreeding plumage, they are black above and white below with a black stripe on the side of the neck and a white comma behind eye. Short, stout bill. Horizontal posture like a football floating on the water. Dives frequently when feeding. In winter, only likely to be seen from land following the passage of a storm, otherwise stays well offshore. Found singly or in flocks. Much smaller than guillemots or puffins, with fast wingbeats and low, twisting flight that recalls a flock of sandpipers. Breeds in large numbers in Greenland and Europe; rare at alcid breeding colonies in Alaska. Birds in breeding plumage have an all-black head and chest.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Alle alle
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Alcidae
- Genus
- Alle
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- NA, PAL : coasts of high Arctic from ne Canada to nw of Russia; more rarely to Bering Strait
- Non-breeding range
- s in Gulf Stream to North Carolina; to n British Isles and North Sea
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Little auks breed in large colonies on marine cliffsides. They nest in crevices or beneath large rocks, and may build rudimentary nests by bringing small pebbles and/or old grasses and lichen into the cavity, where they lay a single egg.Their single pale greenish blue egg is placed in a crevice of the rocks. Dovekies, like other alcids, are monogamous and have high nest-site fidelity, meaning that they often reusing the same cavity as a nest site by the same pair, year to year. Eggs are generally incubated by both parents equally, for roughly a month (28-31 days), until chicks begin to pip at about 25 days. Hatchlings generally weigh a mere 21 g and are unable to thermoregulate on their own. The hatchlings are brooded for approximately 5 days until they are able to thermoregulate, after which they are only attended to for feeding by parents. Young dovekies fledge from their nests at an age of 26-29 days old, synchronously with conspecifics on the colony, usually at night. All dovekies migrate south by winter into northern areas of the North Atlantic. The species is also commonly found in the Norwegian Sea. Late autumn storms may carry them south of their normal wintering areas, or into the North Sea, and can cause wrecking of these birds, along with other seabirds, on-land. <p>The glaucous gull and the Arctic fox are the main predators of little auks at colonies, with other gulls and raptors predating the species as well. In some cases, the polar bear has also been reported to feed on little auk eggs.
Conservation
Although populations appear to be decreasing, this is not currently thought to be rapid enough to be of concern for the species in the medium term, especially as global little auk numbers are generally rather fluid. Little auks have been shown to be able to buffer fluctuations in prey availability, caused by climate change, via plasticity in their foraging behavior, which is likely to make accurate conservation assessments more difficult.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Mangrove Fantail
Rhipidura phasiana
Small pale gray flycatcher, exclusively coastal and usually observed in or very close to mangroves. Pale gray head and back, white throat and chin, pale wingbars, and a very thin gray chest band. Holds tail up and frequently fans it as it forages. Compare Gray Fantail, which is larger, darker, and has a wider black chest band, and Northern Fantail, which has a pale-streaked gray chest without a dark narrow band and lacks the pale streak behind the eye.
African Paradise-Flycatcher
Terpsiphone viridis
This remarkable flycatcher occurs in both rufous and white morphs, but it always has grayish underparts and a strong crest. The breeding male has ludicrous central tail feathers, twenty centimeters long, that trail like the ribbon of a rhythmic gymnast, while the female lacks the tail streamers and has a smaller crest. Singles and pairs occasionally join flocks in open woodland, riverine forest, and thickets, avoiding lowland evergreen forest. Very vocal, often giving a repeated grating “dzee-zwee” call and a sweet melodic “willie-willie-willie-wee-wooo” song. The very similar Rufous-vented Paradise-Flycatcher differs from African Paradise-Flycatcher by having a rufous undertail and a shorter crest.
Leaden Flycatcher
Myiagra rubecula
A long-tailed, slender songbird with fine bill. Males rich blue-gray above, white below, with a blue-gray bib with convex lower edge (curves upward at the edges). Crown paler than throat, lending male a bearded appearance in optimal light. Male Satin Flycatcher has uniformly dark head, blackish (not grayish) tail feathers, and concave bib edge. Female paler blue-gray above, with pale orange throat and breast. Inhabits varied woodlands, perches high in the canopy, often shakes the tail rapidly. Song a repeated two-note whistle; call a loud buzzing “zerp.”
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