Aleutian Islands Unit, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, 13 July to 22 July 1987: Trip report
Published By US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
Issued over 9 years ago
Summary
Description
The majority of the seabirds on the refuge use Puffin Island. Table 2 indicates the species composition and number of seabirds censused on 13 August from 1200 1400, and our best estimate of the seabird population. In addition to the census, we made 5 counts of murres at Puffin Island to determine species composition. The counts revealed that Common and Thickbilled murres were in a ratio of 2.9:1. This figure was used to determine total number of each murre species. The most striking feature of Puffin Island is the number of Horned Puffins nesting in burrows. We found that 70 of the puffins that we counted were sitting in a soil habitat. In the plots we established on Puffin Island, we found 19, 29, and 23 burrows X 23.6 or .94 burrowssquare meter for the three plots. By creating such a dense matrix of burrows, the Horned Puffins may be radically altering the habitat on Puffin Island. A comparison of photographs taken in 1968 and 1977 Appendix I show that a considerable loss of vegetation has occurred with subsequent erosion. The digging of the puffins may only hasten the erosion.