Parakeet Auklet (Aethia psittacula)

Parakeet Auklet, Reef Rookery Cliffs, St. Paul Island, Alaska
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved. (view image details)

Parakeet Auklet | Aethia psittacula photo

Parakeet Auklet, Ridge Wall, St. Paul Island, Alaska
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved. (view image details)

PARAKEET AUKLET FACTS

Description
The Parakeet Auklet is a small seabird with a short thick orange bill that is slightly upturned. It is dark colored above and white below, with a white plume behind the yellow eye. In summer its eye plume may disappear. Males and female look similar.

Size
23cm

Environment
breeds on the cliffs, slopes and boulder fields of offshore islands. Needs plenty of rock crevices for nesting colony. Only comes ashore to breed.

Food
The Parakeet Auklet feeds on small crustaceans such as euphausiids, copepods and amphipods. It sometimes feeds on jellyfish or small fish. Can dive up to 30m in search of prey.

Breeding
Breeds in April and May in colonies. Often nests in mixed colonies with other Auk species. Female lays a single egg which hatches after about a month.

Range
found in waters of Alaska and Kamchatka and Siberia

Classification

Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Alcidae
Genus:	Aethia
Species:	psittacula
Common Name:	Parakeet Auklet

Relatives in same Genus
Crested Auklet (A. cristatella)
Least Auklet (A. pusilla)

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