and
R. Wayne Campbell
Provincial Museum
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Abstract
Current breeding seabird population estimates, nest-site preferences, and population changes are reviewed for southeastern Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington. There are 19 species of seabirds and a minimum of 216,566 pairs breeding in British Columbia and Washington. There are limited data on breeding populations for southeastern Alaska. Species diversity ranges from 17 species in Alaska to 15 species in British Columbia and 14 species in Washington. Eighty percent of all British Columbia seabirds breed on the east coast of Queen Charlotte Islands and the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. The three most numerous species in British Columbia are the fork-tailed storm-petrel, Oceanodroma furcata (31.3%); Cassin's auklet, Ptychoramphus aleuticus (24.6%); and ancient murrelet, Synthliboramphus antiquus (12.5%). In Washington, 74% (43,274 pairs) of the seabird population resides on the Olympic coast; the remaining 26% are in the San Juan Island area. About 54% of this population consists of the common murre (Uria aalge) and rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata). The rhinoceros auklet and glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) make up 97% of the total seabird population of the San Juan Islands. About 68% of all seabirds on the northeastern Pacific coast are nocturnal, burrow or rock crevice-nesting species. Currently available population data are inadequate to determine significant changes in population density for most species. Suggested topics for future research are presented.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the known distribution, habitat, abundance, and status of breeding seabirds of the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska, the Province of British Columbia, Canada, and the State of Washington.
Even though several studies of the breeding biology of several seabird species in this area have been published, there have been few published surveys of known breeding colonies. In British Columbia the most extensive work has been done by the British Columbia Provincial Museum and the University of British Columbia (Drent and Guiguet 1961). Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959) summarized the available literature on Alaskan birds up to about 1958. Since then, no extensive surveys have been conducted in southeastern Alaska. The U.S. Department of the Interior (1972), in its environmental impact statement for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, presented additional information on the seabirds of other parts of Alaska. In Washington, there are no published comprehensive surveys except those of Kenyon and Scheffer (1961) and unpublished surveys by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Washington.
| Family | Common name | Regions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | Washington | Southeastern Alaska | Total forms | ||
| Hydrobatidae | Storm-petrels | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Phalacrocoracidae | Cormorants | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Haematopodidae | Oystercatchers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Laridae | Gulls and terns | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Alcidae | Auks, murres, puffins | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 |
| Total | 14 | 15 | 16 | 19 | |