Not Your Average City Pigeon
By Susan Boac
Published: 06/21/2013  Updated: 08/08/2019
Pigeon Guillemot photographed near Heceta Head on the Central Oregon Coast.
Pigeon Guillemot photographed near Heceta Head on the Central Oregon Coast.  Photo by Gary Hayes

Nesting along rocky shores with a bountiful food supply, Pigeon Guillemots can feed their chicks constantly and their chicks fledge faster.

A year-round resident of near shore coastlines in the Northwest, Pigeon Guillemots can be seen during the summer nesting on rock crevices, cliffside ledges and sometimes manmade structures such as docks and bridges.During the breeding season, the birds are black with a large white wing patch, but their most distinctive characteristic is the brilliant red color of their feet. Like all members of the alcid or auk family, Pigeon Guillemots are much better swimmers than flyers, diving for small fish to depths of over 140 feet using their wings to "fly" underwater.
Not Your Average City Pigeon