Birds

I. Birds evolved from reptiles between 100-200 million years ago

A. Birds were the first endothermic (warm blooded animals in the animal kingdom)
II. Birds in ocean and tropical forest habitats are of highest conservation concern.
III. Horned Puffin
a. Pelagic birds
i. Spend all their time at sea, only come inland to nest
ii. Unlike other puffins, they nest in cliffs and rock crevices
iii. Spend first 2-3 years of life at sea
1. Return to the nesting area they were born
2. Do not breed until age 5
b. Breeding
i. Typically have the same mate year to year
ii. Use same area to nest
iii. 1 egg per year
iv. Male and female take turns incubating the egg
c. Winter months spent far offshore, and spread out
i. Scientist’s know very little about this aspect of their life
ii. Bills turn to dull shades of the typically bright colors, white face is ashy
d. Puffin Name: Appearance of chicks
i. Fluffy black feathers of chicks require clean environment in order to form
waterproofing
 1. Key to their survival at sea
e. Feeding
i. Dive into schools of fish and capture as many as possible
1. Can hold 1-12 fish in their mouths
ii. Uses wings to swim and project itself underwater
iii. Circle there nesting areas multiple times to ensure safe entry into feed chick
f. Threats to Puffins
i. Over-fishing
ii. Highly sensitive to oil spills due to waterproofing of feathers
iii. Introduction of fox and other predatory species
g.  All large breeding colonies of Horned Puffins in North America are located within
national wildlife refuges in Alaska, which provides the birds protection.
h. Both parents incubate the egg
IV. Tufted Puffin
a. Common along the northern pacific coast
i. Used to be seen more commonly in Northern California
1. Completely disappeared from SoCal cliffs where it used to nest
2. Some populations diminished due to introduced predators such as fox
and rats
b. Nest on offshore islands
i. In grassy areas near hills and cliffs
ii. Both parents incubate the egg
V. Black-Legged Kittiwake
a. Name for its’ nasally “Kitti waaaaaak” call
b. Can be seen on either coast, typically on the northern ends
c. Both parents incubate the egg
VI. Glaucous Winged Gull
a. Numbers have been increasing steadily
b. Predates on eggs and young, potentially creating problems for other bird populations
c. Seen both north and south on the pacific coast
d. Present all year in much of range, but some withdrawal in winter from northernmost
areas in western Alaska. Many disperse well to the south in winter, reaching
northwestern Mexico. 
VII. Black Oystercatcher
a. Range from Baja to Alaska
b. Rely on the intertidal zone for food, thus sensitive to pollution and oil spills
i. Climate threatened species
ii. Threatened by potential effects on their ecosystem
c. Keystone species
i. Keeping intertidal mollusks in check
d. The birds have two methods of opening the shells of bivalves.
i. Finding a mussel with its shell slightly open, the oystercatcher quickly jabs its
bill into the opening, cutting the muscles and then cleaning out the contents.
 ii. The bird simply hammers on the shell to break it open.
VIII. Harlequin Duck
a. Medium sized diving sea duck\
i. Dives near bottom of bodies of water to attain
1. Insects
2. Fish
3. Marine invertebrates
b. Typically Found in
i. Mountain Streams (summer
ii. Forested Regions
iii. Turbulent Coastal waters
c. Several males will court one female
i. Circling her and ritualistically bobbing
IX. Belted Kingfisher
a. Often found perched along lakes, rivers, streams, and estuaries
b. Dive into water after fish for food
i. Either from perch
ii. sometimes after hovering just above the water
1. Require clear waters in order to hunt effectively
c. Nest in burrows dug into soft banks
d. Courtship, male will catch fish to feed to the female
e. Winter in areas where the water does not freeze, so they continually have access to
food
i. These birds can be found in Kodiak year-round thanks to Maritime climate
ii. Kingfishers that reside in Northern Alaska/Canada migrate south in Winter
months (Mexico, as far as northern Venezuela/Colombia
X. Murrelet
a. Kittlittz and Marbled
i. Both priority birds
b. Being common mainly from Kodiak Island east to Glacier Bay.
i. Solitary in its nesting; only a few nests have been found, so its breeding
behavior is not well known.
ii. Possibly in the moss beds on the Sitka Spruce
c. Habitat
Ocean, glacier waters; nests on barren slopes in coastal mountains. Found on cold sea
waters, mostly in calm, protected bays and among islands. Usually fairly close to shore.
Nests on islands and mainland, on steep barren mountainsides, talus slopes, rock slides,
sometimes near glaciers.
d.