summer

summer winter European distribution adults at rest

Identification

The Guillemot is best identified by its bill: long, wholly dark and gently tapering to a point. In flight they are slimmer and browner than Razorbills although they become increasingly darker plumaged further north. In winter Guillemots have a pale throat and cheeks, marked by a characteristic dark line behind the eye like the arm of a pair of spectacles. Some birds called 'bridled Guillemots' show the opposite colour-pattern in summer - they seem to be wearing white-rimmed spectacles. Guillemots have distinctively streaked flanks which aid identification.

Habitat

Breeds on cliffs and rocky coasts. Winters at sea and around the coast.

Behaviour

Guillemots nest at extremely high densities in extraordinarily cramped conditions. In order to stop them from rolling off the narrow ledges, the eggs are distinctively pear-shaped so they roll around in circles. The young Guillemots leave the nest long before they can fly which doesn't seem a good idea for a bird which hatches on a ledge sometimes hundreds of feet up a cliff. At some sites the sea doesn't come close enough to guarantee a soft wet landing so the chicks have to bounce onto the rocks then scramble towards the sea before the marauding gulls grab hold of them. This leaping from the breeding ledges is timed to occur at the same time throughout the colony so the gulls are faced with such a glut of food that they can eat only a small proportion of the chicks.

Migration

Dispersive throughout the North Sea and North Atlantic.

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, Guillemot is classed as Common: common species, including species that are certain or probable escapees from captivity when occurring in the British Isles. (Note that rarity levels are currently applied nationally and may not reflect local variations in abundance.)

Silloth, Cumbria 22/10/2009	Campbeltown, Argyll 10/12/2009	Campbeltown Loch, Argyll 09/12/2009	Campbeltown Loch, Argyll 09/12/2009	Campbeltown Loch, Argyll 03/12/2009
Carrickfergus, Antrim 09/11/2009	Brighton, E Sussex 04/11/2009	Carsethorn, Dumf & Gall 31/10/2009	Llandudno, Conwy 19/09/2009	Black Pt, Hants 12/10/2009

 View all pictures of Guillemot

Guillemot breeds in the following countries (Bird News Extra subscribers will see population statistics and information on trends for each country):

Britain
Denmark
Faroe Islands
Finland
France
Germany
Greenland
Iceland
Ireland
Norway
Portugal
Russia
Spain
Svalbard
Sweden

http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob6340.htm   BTO BirdFacts: Guillemot	Edit this link
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	Neighbours from hell: infanticide rife in sea-bird colony	Wednesday 17th September 2008
	Guillemots are increasingly attacking and killing unattended chicks from neighbouring nests due to food shortages.   read on
	Starving Guillemots hint at seabird crisis	Monday 18th September 2006
	Reports of hundreds of dead or starving young seabirds around Scotland and Northern Ireland are leading to speculation among experts that these incidents may be linked to a much larger problem.   read on

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