The Black Guillemot: A Seabird of the Cold North Atlantic

Photo: Boaworm, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The black guillemot is a small seabird of the cold northern oceans. Its home is the coasts of the North Atlantic and Arctic seas, from Scotland and Ireland to Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland and eastern Canada.

Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In summer it is easy to recognise, with all-black plumage, a bold white patch on each wing, red feet and a red mouth lining that shows when it calls. In winter the plumage turns mostly white and grey, which surprises people who know it only from its summer look.

Photo: Andreas Weith, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It dives for its food, using its wings to swim underwater. Fish such as gobies and sand eels are important prey, and it also eats crustaceans. Unlike the guillemots that breed in vast noisy colonies on cliffs, the black guillemot usually nests in small groups, laying its eggs in crevices among rocks or in burrows.

Photo: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

The call is a thin, high whistle that you might not guess came from a seabird. Pollution, oil spills and introduced predators such as mink can threaten colonies, and it is a bird that needs clean coastal waters.

Photo: TXGemGem, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If you ever visit northern coasts, look for a black bird with white wing patches bobbing near the rocks. Have you seen one?