Parakeet Auklet

Table

Parakeet Auklet – Accepted
1. 10 Jan 1895	*	San Francisco SF	2004-519	9,30	specimen lost
2–3. 08 Jan 1899	*	San Francisco SF	2004-520	9,30	specimen lost
4–5. 17 Dec 1899	*	San Francisco SF	2004-521	9,30	specimen lost
6. 14 Jan 1905	*	Monterey Bay MTY	2004-522A	9,30	specimen lost
7-8. 17 Jan 1905	2 *	Monterey Bay MTY	2004-522B	9,30	specimen lost
9. 13 Jan 1908	ASY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-139	9	ph., CAS 10291
10. 13 Jan 1908	SY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-140	9	ph., CAS 10292
11. 13 Jan 1908	SY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-141	9	ph., CAS 10293
12. 13 Jan 1908	SY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-142	9	ph., CAS 10294
13. 13 Jan 1908	ASY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-143	9	ph., CAS 10295
14. 13 Jan 1908	ASY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-144	9	ph., CAS 10296
15. 13 Jan 1908	SY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-145	9	ph., CAS 10297
16. 13 Jan 1908	ASY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-146	9	ph., CAS 10298
17. 13 Jan 1908	ASY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-147	9	ph., CAS 10299
18. 13 Jan 1908	SY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-148	9	ph., CAS 10300
19. 13 Jan 1908	SY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-150	9	ph., CAS 10301
20. 13 Jan 1908	ASY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-151	9	ph., CAS 10302
21. 15 Jan 1908	ASY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-149	9	ph., CAS 10303
22. 28 Jan 1908	SY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-153	9	ph., CAS 10304
23. 30 Jan 1908	SY	Monterey Bay MTY	1984-152	9	ph., CAS 10305
24. 07 Feb 1909		Eureka HUM	1986-309	14	ph., HSU 2261
25. 05 Apr 1924		~3 mi. n Samoa HUM	1986-310	14	ph., HSU 4802
26-28. 28 Jan 1937	3	La Jolla SD	1988-126	14	ph., USNM 529104
29. 09 Apr 1944		Stinson Beach MRN	1989-056	14	MVZ 89469
30. 28 Apr 1947		Pajaro R. mouth SCZ	1984-200	9	ph., MVZ 119009
31. 06 Feb 1955		San Simeon SLO	1994-070	18	ph., ROM 81724
32. 03 Mar 1974	ASY	Zmudowski State Beach MTY	1985-057	10	ph., MLML 4896 (found dead)
33. 20 Nov 1983	HY	Samoa HUM	1986-311	14	ph., HSU 5483, Harris (1991, 1996)
34. 04 Jul 1988	&	vic. Santa Ynez R. mouth SBA	1988-152	15	ph., SBMNH 5423 (found dead)
35-36. 08 Dec 1988	2	~95 nmi. w Pt. Arena MEN	1988-281	13
37. 08 Dec 1988		~78 nmi. w Pt. Cabrillo MEN	1988-282	13
38. 06 Jun 1989		~12 nmi. wsw Pt. Año Nuevo SM	1989-105	13
39-40. 03 Mar 1991	2	~95 nmi. wsw San Nicolas I. VEN 1991-061/1991-062	16
41. 06 Mar 1991		~98 nmi. w San Nicolas I. VEN	1991-063	16
42. 14 Dec 1991		~74 nmi. wsw Pigeon Pt. SM	1991-235	17	ph., AB 46:312,333
43. 01 Feb 1992		~140 nmi. wsw San Nicolas I. VEN	1992-074	17
44-48. 10 Feb 1992	5	~193 nmi. w San Miguel I. SBA	1992-075	18
49. 14 Jan 1993		~155 nmi. sw San Nicolas I. VEN	1993-032	19	ph.
50-67. 25 Jan 1993	18	~70 nmi. w Pt. Arguello SBA	1993-033	19	ph.
68. 01 Feb 1997		San Nicolas I. VEN	1997-066	23
69. 12 Sep 1997		~10 nmi. w North Farallon I. SF	1997-201	23
70. 20 Feb 1999		~34 nmi. wsw Southeast Farallon I. SF	1999-125	25
71. 23 Feb 1999		~23 nmi. sw Southeast Farallon I. SF	1999-126	25	ph.
Parakeet Auklet – Not accepted, identification not established
31 Jul 1943		Samoa HUM	1992-115	15
12 Mar 1995		Limantour Beach MRN	1995-085	14,22	ph.
Parakeet Auklet – Not submitted
ca. 23 Jan 1974		Moss Landing MTY			AB 28:688, “washed ashore”
26 Nov 1994		Pt. Reyes MRN			FN 49:97, found dead
10 Dec 1994	6	Cordell Bank MRN			FN 49:194
26 Aug 1997	2	Cordell Bank MRN			FN 52:121
06 May 2001	2	w Southeast Farallon I. SF			NAB 55:352

Figures

Figure 178. Distribution of 71 Parakeet Auklets accepted through 2003. Concentrations shown at Monterey Bay and San Francisco represent records from the period 1895–1908. The numerous offshore records date back no later than 1988, and it now appears that the species may occur with some regularity far offshore during the winter months.

Figure 179. This graph suggests that the Parakeet Auklet’s status has changed little in California since the late 1800s. Note, however, that the 1908 incursion was recorded in Monterey Bay whereas the comparable 1993 spike was experienced no closer than 70 nautical miles from shore. Trained observers seldom checked the far offshore waters during most of the graphed period, and this observer bias could mask variation in the species’ abundance over time.

Parakeet Auklet

PARAKEET AUKLET Aethia psittacula (Pallas, 1769)

Accepted: 71 (97%)	Treated in Appendix H: no
Not accepted: 2	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 12	Color image: none

This alcid breeds in western and south-central Alaska, from Prince William Sound north to the Diomede Islands, and across the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands to eastern Siberia and the Commander Islands. Post-breeding movements are incompletely known, but in Asia the species occurs regularly in winter south to the Kuril Islands, rarely to Japan. In North America, some birds winter among the Pribilof and Aleutian Islands but most are believed to move south into the North Pacific (Jones et al. 2001). The species is casual in northern Alaska and in the nearshore waters off British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. Approximately 49 have turned up in Hawaii (R. L. Pyle unpubl. data). There is an astounding record from Sweden (Cramp 1985).

Five Parakeet Auklets collected between 10 January 1895 and 17 December 1899 near San Francisco, San Francisco County, were the first to be recorded in California (Loomis 1901). These specimens, plus three collected 14–17 January 1905 on Monterey Bay, Monterey County (Beck 1907), were consumed in the conflagration associated with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Two years later, in January 1908, Beck (1910) collected a series of 15 Parakeet Auklets from his rowboat on Monterey Bay—a feat remarkable in part because the species has yet to be recorded there again. For the next 80 years, most detections were of beach-cast corpses; live birds were recovered only occasionally (see, e.g., Harris 1991).

Single Parakeet Auklet records from June, July, and September illustrate this species’ potential (like other northern-breeding alcids) to appear in California during summer and fall. Nonetheless, it is becoming clear that this species occurs in California primarily as a winter visitant to waters at least 2000 fathoms deep, far offshore. Increased exploration of such areas since 1988 has yielded numerous records, mostly between early December and early March, suggesting that the Parakeet Auklet may eventually prove to be a more regular component of the state’s pelagic avifauna.