Bondet al • AVIAN MORTALITY AT A VOLCANO IN ALASKA 
147 
60° N 
50° N 
nc - 1. Kiska Island and Sirius Point, the northern extremity. Aleutian Islands. Alaska The mangie .nd cates 
proximate location of the gas seep, the shaded area is the auklet colony, and the crosshairs show the summit 
^ Volcano. 
a sleep-sided canyon with an older lava flow al the 
ll,rn ier north coastline (Coats et al. 1961. Sitrtkin et 
1,1 ^81). This canyon continues for > 1 km along 
!tie anthem and eastern boundaries of the new lava 
^re and varies from 10-20 m depth with near 
vertical walls in places. Many living but weak. 
Moribund, and dead Least Auklet fledglings (some 
"I'h injuries caused by Norway rat |Rattus 
norvegicus] predation) were regularly found at 
points along this canyon during 2001-2006 (Major 
2004; ILJ. pers. obs.). It was previously assumed 
these were weak fledglings that, unable to fly, 
tumbled into low points in the canyon and. unable 
to find their way to the sea. died ol starvation and 
exposure. Our research team further investigated 
this phenomenon by walking the eastern third ot 
