The Pacific equivalent of Black Guillemot, with some overlap in northern Alaska, very similar in plumage although the white wing-patch
usually has black markings. Locally common, it breeds as far south as California and Sakhalin, and may disperse south, although it is basically sedentary. Five subspecies have been described, one,
snowi has been split by some authorities, notably Peter Harrison, and is fairly common on southern Kamchatka and the Kurils. It has a much-reduced or absent white wing-patch.
Taken North Pacific June 1993 and Vancouver Island November 2000
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HOMEPAGE
