Pigeon Guillemot Breeding Survey

(Salish Sea Guillemot Network)

Introducing the Salish Sea Guillemot Network 2023 Program Coordinator!

Shannon Boldt

Pigeon Guillemot Breeding Survey season is just around the corner, and as Whidbey Audubon also financially supports this coordinator position, we wanted to share with everyone our good fortune to have Shannon Boldt leading the team this summer!

Shannon is a native Washingtonian who finds her happy place both “playing” with science and outdoors, immersed in the natural world. The more hands on she can be, the better! She holds a BS in Biology and MS in Environmental Policy and Management, with a concentration in Fish and Wildlife Management. Having grown up in the Puget Sound region, she has always felt deeply connected and drawn to the marine environment, in particular, wildlife and birds. She is driven by this connection, her constant curiosity, and eagerness to learn about and care for the world around her.

Shannon is an avid walker and amateur wildlife photographer. She loves to travel, boat, hike, and eat good food…and she absolutely ADORES Pigeon Guillemots. She is very excited to take on this new role as the SSGN PIGU Breeding Survey’s Program Coordinator and to help see us through another successful season with her positive energy and support.

We’re excited, too!

Video of Salish Sea Guillemot Network’s (SSGN) End of Season Event held October 5, 2022: SSGN End of Season Event

​This recap of the 2022 Pigeon Guillemot Breeding Survey conducted by the Salish Sea Guillemot Network includes stories and impressions of the season from the various Regions, as well as preliminary results compared to the 2021 season. The guest speaker is Senior Marine Ecologist with Point Blue Conservation Science, Dr. Mike Johns. He discusses some long-term trends and new insights into the breeding and migratory behavior of Pigeon Guillemots on Southeast Farallon Island. Dr. Johns just wrapped up his 9th season on the Farallones, and he shares recent results from a 3-year telemetry study, along with the history of Point Blue’s 54-year legacy of seabird research on a remote offshore California outcropping.

Mike John’s presentation begins 1 hr - 3 mins - 23 secs into the video.

Video of Salish Sea Guillemot Network’s (SSGN) End of Season Event held October 22, 2021: SSGN End of Season Event

The presentation by Scott Pearson, Senior Research Scientist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), begins at 58:42 in the video. Part of Scott’s talk is a discussion of the importance of the SSGN work relative to the seabird science that WDFW undertakes.

This article explains how University of Washington researchers are using our Pigeon Guillemot survey data:

Community science effort helps UW researchers understand local seabird populations

SSGN End of Season 2022 Celebration - Video

This recap of the 2022 Pigeon Guillemot Breeding Survey conducted by the Salish Sea Guillemot Network includes stories and impressions of the season from the various Regions, as well as preliminary results compared to the 2021 season. The guest speaker is Senior Marine Ecologist with Point Blue Conservation Science, Dr. Mike Johns. He discusses some long-term trends and new insights into the breeding and migratory behavior of Pigeon Guillemots on Southeast Farallon Island. Dr. Johns just wrapped up his 9th season on the Farallones, and he shares recent results from a 3-year telemetry study, along with the history of Point Blue’s 54-year legacy of seabird research on a remote offshore California outcropping. His presentation begins 1 hr - 3 mins - 23 secs into the video.

Please help us continue our survey of Pigeon Guillemots. Our data helps Washington agencies assess the health of the Salish Sea. As our survey grows to encompass more areas of our Region, so do our costs to ensure we maintain scientific-level data collection.

Donate

We are a chapter-initiated Whidbey Audubon Society community science project dedicated to the education about and research and protection of the Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba). Data collected by our survey is being used by University of Washington researchers, is recognized by the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP) and is being integrated into the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife marine bird database.

Pigeon Guillemots (PIGU) are endearing black and white seabirds with bright red mouths and feet. The Pigeon Guillemot is the only seabird that regularly nests on Whidbey Island.  They typically nest in cavities (burrows) in the sandy bluffs that encircle much of Whidbey Island, though they are flexible. In the summer of 2021, a PIGU pair nested on the ramp counterbalance at the Coupeville Ferry Dock.  A mated PIGU pair will normally have two chicks. Once a chick is fledged, it essentially tumbles from its burrow to the beach and then waddles to the water, where it will swim about and dive for fish until it is able to fly, approximately two weeks later.

Since 2004 community science volunteers have been monitoring the Pigeon Guillemot colonies on Whidbey Island during the breeding season, early June through early September. For one hour a week colony volunteers sit quietly on beaches around Whidbey Island and count the total number of PIGU, identify active burrows and the number of breeding birds and count the number and type of prey delivered by parents to their chicks.

PIGU are an important indicator species of the health of the Salish Sea, in particular the health of the bottom dwelling fish that the PIGU favor. However, we also study these birds to help educate Island residents and others about the importance of bluff stewardship and the joy of having guillemots in our waters. Our dedicated group of community science volunteers spreads the word with their friends and neighbors as well as beach walkers.

We have assisted other organizations in starting their own surveys using our protocol and contributing to our database. In 2020, with these organizations we established the Salish Sea Guillemot Network (SSGN), consisting of our Whidbey Island survey, one sponsored by the Nisqually Reach Nature Center which covers three counties in the South Sound, a survey sponsored by Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society and Clallam County Marine Resources Committee, a survey sponsored by Vashon-Maury Island Audubon Society and the Vashon Nature Center, a survey in Kitsap County sponsored by the Kitsap Audubon Society, and a survey on Camano Island supported by Sound Water Stewards of Island County. Our survey, under the SSGN, has now been extended to seven counties bordering the Salish Sea.

To learn more about our PIGU survey and to find out how you can become a part of this amazing and important work, visit the Salish Sea Guillemot Network website here.

Photos by Govinda Holtby. Use with permission only.