Dovekie

Dovekie, adult, breeding plumage

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A small, chunky black-and-white bird of the open Atlantic ocean, the Dovekie breeds along high arctic coasts and only makes its way southward in winter as far as New England. It is the smallest of the auks (the Puffin family) in the Atlantic.

Description

• Small waterbird.
• Stocky and without apparent neck.
• Black-and-white.
• Short, stubby bill.
• In breeding plumage, entirely black back, head, and chest; white belly.
• In nonbreeding plumage, black back, cap, and face; white throat and underside, with dark neckband.

• Size: 19-23 cm (7-9 in)
• Wingspan: 38 cm (15 in)
• Weight: 134-204 g (4.73-7.2 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, male slightly larger.

Sound

Generally silent at sea, makes high trilling call at nesting colony.

Conservation Status

Although numerous, the Dovekie is difficult to count. No reliable information exists about any trends in populations.

Other Names

Mergule nain (French)
Mérgulo marino (Spanish)
Little Auk (British) (English)

Cool Facts

• The Dovkie breeding population at Thule in northwestern Greenland is the among largest and densest breeding aggregations of all auks. This population traditionally has been estimated as 30 million birds.
• The Dovekie sometimes shows up out of range along the east coast of North America in massive wrecks of stranded, starving birds. Sustained, strong easterly winds may make feeding conditions unsuitable and push the weakened, emaciated birds landward. The largest recorded wreck in North America, in the winter of 1932 -1933, saw Dovekies raining down on the streets of New York City and large numbers washing up along the entire eastern seaboard, from Nova Scotia to Florida.

Sources used to construct this page:

Montevecchi, W. A., and I. J. Stenhouse. 2002. Dovekie (Alle alle). In The Birds of North America, No. 701 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.