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Species Code: CECO
Legend: Breeding Range Map Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made) Click to enlarge distribution map
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This species is locally common on beaches, sandy cliffs, and offshore islands along the outer and inland marine waters from Tatoosh Island in Clallam County to Puget Sound.
Good habitat in the core areas of use included coastal habitats (but not estuaries) in zones adjacent to the coast.
Washington's individuals are representative of the subspecies C. c. columba. Pigeon Guillemots nest widely throughout the salt waters of Washington, utilizing natural burrows, wharfs, pipes, and logs on beaches. While most of WashingtonÕs seabirds nest in large colonies, this species breeds singly or in small colonies on virtually every small marine inlet or coastline in Washington. 144 colonies have been recorded for this species, making it undoubtedly the most widely distributed seabird (excluding gulls and terns) geographically, though one of the smallest in terms of overall population size. Their numbers typically fluctuate annually, based on food supply and climatic event. Significant increases of this species have been reported at Protection Island from 1976 to 1984, yet this species has declined in recent years from about 3000 pairs on Protection Island in 1993 to only 1967 pairs in 1995.
Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester