Bird not seen in California for 30 years spotted off S.F. coast
Bird not seen in California for 30 years spotted off S.F. coast
Crested auklets are native to the Alaskan Islands and eastern Siberia. Both male and females have bright bills, which are fluorescent, and during breeding season, the same curly head plumage. In courtship, females bury their heads in the males’ tangerine-scented necks, known as “ruff-sniffing,” as the males puff out their chests and honk with gusto. The birds are even known for what the Audubon Society calls “rambunctious sex parties,” in which groups of up to 20 crowd in to watch a pair mate.
The crested auklet at the Farallons would have no such luck. He was the only one seen for miles around, known as a vagrant or a bird that somehow drifts away from normal migration routes. Crested auklets rarely stray from the northern Pacific Ocean, and one has not been spotted in California since 1995, off Bodega Head in the Sonoma Coast. Before that one was seen in Marin County in 1979, according to Rare Birds of California, which confirms sightings.