San Francisco Bay Area Seabirds, Cassin's Aucklet

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

San Francisco Bay Area Seabirds, Cassin's Aucklet

San Francisco Bay Area Birdwatching
Seabirds of Marin, SF Bay and Gulf of the Farallones

Cassin's Aucklet

Sea Birds of the San Francisco Bay, Marin, Northern Coast + Gulf of the Farallones.
Photography ©SFBAYIMAGES.com (Buy or License Photo)
Cassin's Aucklet, Size of a Tennis Ball, South East Farallon Island.

Cassin's Aucklet Facts:

Cassin's Aucklet Scientific classification

Cassin's Aucklet Kingdom: Animalia
Cassin's Aucklet Phylum: Chordata
Cassin's Aucklet Class: Aves
Cassin's Aucklet Subclass: Neornithes
Cassin's Aucklet Infraclass: Neognathae
Cassin's Aucklet Superorder: Neoaves
Cassin's Aucklet Order: Charadriiformes
Cassin's Aucklet Suborder: Lari
Cassin's Aucklet Family: Alcidae
Cassin's Aucklet Subfamily: Alcinae
Cassin's Aucklet Tribe: Alcini
Cassin's Aucklet Genus: Uria
Cassin's Aucklet Species: U. aalge

Cassin's Aucklet Binomial name

Uria aalge

Where to find a Cassin's Aucklet in the San Francisco Bay Area: Gulf of the Farallones and the Farallon Islands.

Description: Cassin's Aucket - Small bird, about the size of a tennis ball. Nest on cliffs and burrons in the rocks. Migrate from Baja and the Alleutions. Over 100,000 birds nest on the Farallon Islands. They are at risk to being prey of the Western Gull. Most seabirds abandon their nests shortly after breeding, but the Cassin's Auklets remain in their nests on the Farallon Islands. It is believed that shortage of nesting turf leads them to defend their burrows year long. Cassin's Auklets are common at the Farallon Islands.

Sea Birds of the San Francisco Bay, Marin, Northern Coast + Gulf of the Farallones.
Photography ©SFBAYIMAGES.com (Buy or License Photo)
A sense of scale of how small this bird is. South East Farallon Island.

REFERENCES:

* Bird Scientific Facts From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, ISBN 0-394-41410-1
National Geographic, Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
San Francisco Bay Area Marine Biologists, Naturalists and Bird Watching Guides; Carol Kieper, Melinda Nakagawa, Doreen Moser, David Wimpfhiemer.
Extensive Realtime Observation.