L. W. SOWL 



Cassin's Auklet (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) 



Cassin's auklet is a very uncommon bird in 

 the northern Gulf of Alaska. In the western 

 Gulf it is more common, particularly from the 

 Shumagins west. 



This auklet apparently once bred in great 

 numbers on islands in or near the Sanak 

 Group where Chase Littlejohn (Bendire 1895) 

 found them to be twice as numerous as the an- 

 cient murrelets. Murie (1959) did not find 

 them there. 



Littlejohn began encountering Cassin's 

 auklets at sea some 290 km southeast of 

 Unga, Shumagin Islands. Murie (1959) en- 

 countered them near the Shumagins in May 

 1937. During the FWS 1973 reconnaissance 

 survey of the Alaska Peninsula, these auklets 

 were not encountered (or at least not identi- 

 fied) until we reached the vicinity of Unga 

 Strait where we saw a few in mixed flocks 

 with other murrelets and auklets. They were 

 most numerous in East Nagai Strait. We en- 

 countered them only twice in a situation 

 which indicated they might be breeding on 

 Hall and Herendeen islands on the north end 

 of Little Koniuji Island. 



Murie (1959) considered Cassin's auklet to 

 be no longer common west of Kodiak. In 

 Gabrielson's many voyages through the 

 northern and western Gulf of Alaska he en- 

 countered them only twice, once off Cape 

 Spencer and once in the Chiswell Islands. 



Thoresen (1964) commented that through- 

 out the northern part of its range the Cassin's 

 auklet has become gradually less frequent. Al- 

 though there are no data to dispute this, I be- 

 lieve, as do Isleib and Kessel (1973), that they 

 are more numerous than observations would 

 indicate, and I would apply this to the entire 

 area. There are certainly colonies remaining in 

 the Shumagin Islands, and quite probably 

 along the south coast of the Kenai Peninsula. 

 When it is possible to fully explore the Sand- 

 man Reefs there is a good probability that 

 they will be found there. 



We can only guess at the reasons for their 

 decline. Bendire (1895) and Murie (1959) have 

 described some contributing factors. 



Parakeet Auklet (Cyclorrhyncus psittacula) 



Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959) described the 

 parakeet auklet as the least colonial of any of 



the Alaskan auklets. They also considered the 

 Aleutian Islands to be its principal nesting 

 grounds. There are old records of breeding 

 parakeet auklets from Kodiak (Friedmann 

 1935) and Little Koniuji (Bean 1882). Grinnell 

 (1910) reported two that were seen on Green 

 Island, Prince William Sound, and several 

 more that were seen near Knight Island. 



Murie (1959) did not see any parakeet auk- 

 lets near Kodiak and Afognak islands which 

 he considered to be the eastern part of their 

 range. He did not think they were abundant 

 anywhere along the Alaska Peninsula. He 

 found a few near Sutwik Island in May 1936 

 and then noted that they were fairly common 

 near the Shumagins in May 1937. 



Gabrielson found this species to be quite 

 numerous on the north side of Chowiet Island 

 in the Semidi Islands in 1945 (Gabrielson and 

 Lincoln 1959). He also saw numerous indi- 

 viduals in Marmot Strait and saw one in the 

 Chiswell Islands during the same year. David 

 Roseneau (Isleib and Kessel 1973) found hun- 

 dreds close to East Amatuli Island in the Bar- 

 ren Islands in 1965. 



During FWS colony surveys, parakeet auk- 

 lets have been found in close proximity to six 

 seabird colonies in Prince William Sound. 

 During the July-August 1972 surveys, they 

 were estimated to number about 3,000 in the 

 Sound. They have also been found closely as- 

 sociated with Chisik Island (David Snarski, 

 personal communication), the Chiswell Is- 

 lands, Nord and Sud islands in the Barrens, 

 Sea Otter Island, and Central and Long is- 

 lands along the Alaska Peninsula. They were 

 most numerous in the Shumagin Islands, 

 where they were found near Castle Rock, Hall 

 (9,000), Herendeen (3,000), Atkins (more than 

 5,000), and Little Koniuju islands. They were 

 again encountered south and west of Cold Bay 

 at High, Fawn, Let, Amagat, Umga, and 

 Patton islands. Many of these islands are in 

 the north half of the Sandman Reefs, the only 

 portion where any attempt has been made to 

 survey seabird colonies. 



The parakeet auklet may not be abundant 

 anywhere in the Gulf of Alaska but, based on 

 the numbers of places it has been seen in re- 

 cent years, its population appears to be well 

 dispersed and probably doing very well. This 

 auklet is most abundant from the Shumagin 

 Islands westward. It is almost certainly more 



