page_title: Crested auklet
section_title: Breeding and parental care
hierarchical_section_title: Crested auklet / Behavior and ecology / Breeding and parental care
caption_attribution_description: English: GAMBELL, AK - WINGS TOUR 8/29 - 9/8/2008 and after
context_page_description: The crested auklet is a small seabird of the family Alcidae, distributed throughout the northern Pacific and the Bering Sea. The species feeds by diving in deep waters, eating krill and a variety of small marine animals. It nests in dense colonies of up to 1 million individuals in the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. It often breeds in mixed-species colonies with the least auklet, a smaller congener.
  The species is known for its sexual ornaments, found in both males and females. These include colorful plumage with a forehead crest, a striking scent recalling citrus fruit, and a loud trumpet call, all of which appear to have evolved through sexual selection. The total population is around 6 million, almost half in North America. It is in general considered to be of least concern, though the Alaskan population faces additional threats from predation and oil spills.
context_section_description: The crested auklet breeding season begins mid-May and ends mid-August. Their nesting sites are within the rocky crevices of North Pacific coast. They breed in dense colonies of up to one million birds. Because of this, nesting sites are in close proximity, with as little as 0.3 meters between nests. Even so, there is a high degree of territoriality, and adults show a high degree of site fidelity within a year. Because mating occurs at sea and males have no copulatory organ, males must hover over females for a successful mating. Mate choice is mutual, but females do have final choice on breeding partner.
  Crested auklets are highly social during the breeding season, before pair formation, and after pair formation. Within a breeding year, however, crested auklets are monogamous, with only 10% of the population having extra-pair copulations. Partners continue to self-advertise to other birds when they are not incubating. While some of this advertising behavior can be linked to extra-pair mating, it is suggested that continuation of the behavior allows birds to find pairs for the next breeding season. Only 45.5% of birds remain with the same partner in the subsequent breeding season.
  Both sexes invest highly in parental care; parents share equally in incubating the single egg and raising the chick. Since both sexes are ornamented, crested auklets align with Robert Trivers's parental investment theory, which predicts that with biparental care, mutual choosiness will arise.
caption: Chick in hand
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