The Rhinoceros Auklet is named for the horn at the base of its bill. It is in the genus cerorhinca (horn-nose) from the Greek keras, horn, and rugkhos, snout.
In this article we will focus on the adult forms of the three most common pink-legged gulls seen in Western Washington in winter, plus the hybrid of the Glaucous-winged and Western Gulls. Many observers now say that this hybrid gull is the most commonly seen gull of them all.
In the northwest we have three species of gulls with white heads and yellow legs: Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull, and California Gull. They differ in size, bill markings, mantel color, and wing tip appearance. In this article we will compare and contrast only the adult plumage birds.
The Caspian Tern (CATE) is about 21” long with a wingspan of 50” and weight of 1.4 lb (660g). The genus name Sterna (STIR-nah) is Latin stemming from Anglo-Saxon stearn , tern.
The “song of the loon” once heard will never be forgotten. Piercing the evening across a lake in northern North America the male loon defends his territory with yodels that can be heard up to 16 km away.
The Red-necked Grebe is a winter visitor to the marine waters of Washington and has a particular affinity for Puget Sound where it enjoys eating fish and crustaceans which it captures during dives which are sometimes quite deep.
The Horned Grebe (HOGR) is about 14” long with a wingspan of 18” and weight is 1 lb. (450 g). The genus name Podiceps (POD-ih-seps) is from Greek pous, podos, meaning foot, referring to the placement of the legs extremely far back on the body.
The Eared Grebe is the most abundant member of its family in both North America and the world. Gregarious by nature it breeds in large colonies in southwestern Canada and central and western United States
The Brown Pelican is a conservation success story. Populations on both the Pacific and Atlantic/Gulf coasts suffered tremendously during the 1960s when all North American pelicans were extirpated outside of Florida.
One of the most common seabirds seen several miles off the coast of Washington from April to November, the Pink-footed Shearwater is rarely seen from shore.
Cassin’s Auklet is one of the most common and widespread alcids. It has a world population of 3.5 million strong (Opar), but few people see them because they spend their lives at sea and in the Arctic.
The Black-footed Albatross is the only albatross commonly seen from the North American coastline and we have the good fortune of having it off the Washington coast in July and August.
