Alternative name: Tystie
- Cepphus grylle
Identification
Length 33 cm (13"), wingspan 53 cm (21"), weight 430 g
- Chunky
- Round-winged seabird
Adult summer
- All black except white upperwing coverts
- Bright red legs and gape
Adult winter and juvenile
- Mainly white, mottled black above; much whiter above than any other Atlantic Ocean auk
Similar Species
Appearance, voice, and behaviour almost identical to Pigeon Guillemot which has all dark underwings and usually a dark wedge across the white patch on its upperwing.
Distribution
Breeds in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroes, Jan Mayen, Bear Island, Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, north and west Britain and Ireland, around the north coasts of the Baltic and islands in the Kattegat, coastal Norway to the Murmansk Coast and the White Sea, and on Kolguyev and Novaya Zemlya. They also breed in northeastern North America, from Ellesmere Island, Canada, south to Maine, USA. Most populations are resident with little or no movement away from breeding sites but in the far north most birds move southwards. Birds from Finland and Gulf of Bothnia winter mainly off south-east Sweden. Occasionally seen south of main range in winter, annually recorded in Netherlands, more rarely south to northern France and Belgium and exceptionally recorded in Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Recently recorded off Spain.
Taxonomy
Five subspecies currently recognized[1]. Separation at sea is rarely possible.
Most distinctive is C. g. mandtii from Jan Mayen, Bear Island and Svalbard, with whiter upperparts in non-breeding plumage. Remaining races, nominate C. g. grylle from the Baltic, C. g. arcticus from British Isles to arctic Russia, C. g. faroeensis from Faroes and C. g. islandicus from Iceland are all very similar, differing only in minor measurements.
Habitat
Colonial breeder in boulder piles at the base of cliffs and on scree-covered slopes on low rocky islands and coasts. Winters mainly in sheltered bays close to breeding site.
Behaviour
Not particularly sociable, rarely seen in large groups or with other auks.
Breeding
They breed singly or in small scattered colonies and lay their eggs in rocky crevices near water.
Diet
The diet includes fish and crustaceans, molluscs, and cephalopods.
Vocalisation
A weak high-pitched whistle
In culture
The alternative name Tystie, popular in Britain, is an Old Norse name, cognate with the species' name in most Scandinavian countries (Danish Tejst, Faeroese Teisti, Norwegian Teiste, Icelandic Teista).
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Arthur Grosset's Birds
- Butler, R. G. and D. E. Buckley (2002). Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.675
- Nettleship, D.N., Boesman, P. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2018). Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/54063 on 31 August 2018).
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Guillemot. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Guillemot
External Links
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