| Bird species | Northern British Columbia | Southern British Columbia | San Juan Islands | Washington coast | Total all regions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | Population | Percent | Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Fork-tailed storm-petrel | 49,080 | 52.2 | ? | - | 0 | - | 1,900 | 4.4 | 50,980 | 23.5 |
| Leach's storm-petrel | 1,365 | 1.5 | 5,000 | 8.0 | 0 | - | 3,655 | 8.5 | 10,020 | 4.6 |
| Double-crested cormorant | 0 | - | 1,058 | 1.7 | 64 | >0.1 | 390 | >0.1 | 1,512 | >0.1 |
| Brandt's cormorant | 0 | - | 185 | >0.1 | 0 | - | 140 | >0.1 | 325 | >0.1 |
| Pelagic cormorant | 982 | 1.0 | 4,017 | 6.4 | 395 | 2.4 | 995 | 2.3 | 6,389 | 3.0 |
| Glaucous-winged gull | 909 | 1.0 | 13,858 | 22.2 | 6,234 | 37.3 | 4,215 | 9.8 | 25,216 | 11.6 |
| Western gull | 0 | - | ? | - | 0 | - | 930 | 2.2 | 930 | >0.1 |
| Common murre | 0 | - | 1,508 | 2.4 | 0 | - | 11,950 | 27.7 | 13,458 | 6.2 |
| Pigeon guillemot | 1,733 | 1.8 | 1,256 | 2.0 | 194 | 1.2 | 161 | >0.1 | 3,345 | 1.5 |
| Ancient murrelet | 21,177 | 22.5 | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 21,177 | 9.8 |
| Cassin's auklet | 13,475 | 14.3 | 25,000 | 40.0 | 0 | - | 100 | >0.1 | 38,575 | 17.8 |
| Rhinoceros auklet | 5,250 | 5.6 | 6,000 | >0.1 | 9,800 | 58.6 | 11,415 | 26.4 | 27,065 | 12.5 |
| Horned puffin | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - |
| Tufted puffin | 116 | >0.1 | 10,078 | 16.1 | 37 | >0.1 | 7,343 | 17.0 | 17,574 | 8.1 |
| Total | 94,087 | 67,960 | 16,724 | 43,194 | 216,566 | |||||
Comparing information in Jewett et al. (1953) with the current situation, it is apparent that there has been a drastic change in the distribution and probably in the numbers of this species in Washington. Today, there are no Brandt's cormorant colonies in the San Juan Islands or Strait of Juan de Fuca. Yet Jewett et al. (1953) reported colonies at Bellingham Bay and on Lopez and Matia islands. We have observed juvenile Brandt's cormorants in the San Juan Islands during the summer. This species may be particularly susceptible to human disturbance, since all three areas listed above are heavily used in the summer for recreation.
Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus)
The distribution of breeding colonies of the pelagic cormorant is strongly determined by the availability of the steep cliffs on which it constructs its nest. This is the only common cormorant in southeastern Alaska. Throughout its extensive range, this species is generally found breeding in small numbers. Nothing is known about fluctuations in its numbers in Alaska.
This species is common in both British Columbia and Washington; nesting sites are of the same type as those in Alaska except in the San Juan Islands, where 200-300 birds nest on cliff faces composed of glacial deposits. Here, there is frequent nest loss due to slippage off the cliff face; this loss is especially severe on Smith and Protection islands. There do not appear to be any changes in the distribution of pelagic cormorants, but an accurate assessment of abundance is impossible from the data currently available.
Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)
The glaucous-winged gull is the characteristic gull of southeastern Alaska and British Columbia. In Washington, it is the dominant gull in the San Juan Island area but interbreeds with the western gull on the Washington outer coast from Tatoosh to Copalis Beach (Scott 1971). In Alaska, it is widely distributed and locally abundant on Forrester Island, St. Lazaria, and throughout Glacier Bay (S. Patten, personal communication). The biology of this species has been extensively studied in the southern part of its range, especially by Vermeer (1963) and James-Veitch and Booth (1954). The only study of the breeding biology of this species in southeastern Alaska is by Patten (1974) for Glacier Bay. Glaucous-winged gulls are apparently increasing in British Columbia (R. W. Campbell, unpublished data) and in Washington (T. R. Wahl, personal communication). This increase is undoubtedly a result of the proximity of breeding colonies to garbage dumps and commercial fishing fleets in both Canada and the United States. Little is known about changes in populations of gulls in southeastern Alaska.
Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)
The western gull is the common breeding gull of the Washington outer coast; however, there is increased interbreeding with glaucous-winged gulls northward from Destruction Island to Tatoosh Island. The percentage of glaucous-winged gulls steadily increases until Vancouver Island and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where western gulls are rare. Population estimates of gulls on the outer coast of Washington are derived primarily from aerial flights. This makes identification of gulls difficult, and in view of the amount of interbreeding, it is probably impossible to classify many of the breeding gulls as to species. Western gulls appear to be increasing in the Grays Harbor area (G. D. Alcorn, personal communication).