AMNWR 2015/09 BIOLOGICAL MONITORING AT SAINT LAZARIA ISLAND, ALASKA, IN 2014 Leslie Slater and Stuart Fety Key words: Alaska, Cepphus columba, Cerorhinca monocerata, common murre, diet, food habits, fork- tailed storm-petrel, Fratercula cirrhata, glaucous-winged gull, Larus glaucescens, Leach’s storm- petrel, Oceanodroma furcata, Oceanodroma leucorhoa, pelagic cormorant, Phalacrocorax pelagicus, pigeon guillemot, population trends, productivity, rhinoceros auklet, St. Lazaria Island, thick-billed murre, tufted puffin, Uria aalge, Uria lomvia U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge 95 Sterling Highway, #1 Homer, AK 99603-7472 April 2015 Cite as: Slater, L., and S. B. Fety. 2015. Biological monitoring at St. Lazaria Island, Alaska, in 2014. U.S. Fish and Wildl. Serv. Rep., AMNWR 2015/09. Homer, Alaska. Cover photo: By-the-wind-sailors (Velella velella; posed for this photograph) appear in greater numbers in the surrounding waters of St. Lazaria Island when warm water masses are present. In the eastern Pacific, a “warm water blob” was an extensive and notable feature in 2014, thus bringing these hydrozoans to land. [Photo credit: N. Deatherage] St. Lazaria Island (as seen from Mt. Edgecumbe, Kruzof Island) lies at the mouth of Sitka Sound... set a southwest course to arrive at Midway Island or a south-southwest course to arrive at the Hawaiian Islands, both approximately 2,800 miles away. [Photo credit: C. Mom] St. Lazaria Island as seen from the seashore of Kruzof Island (bedrocks in foreground). [Photo credit: C. Mom] i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 1 STUDY AREA ............................................................................................................................................... 2 METHODS .................................................................................................................................................... 3 INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS ................................................................................................................ 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................. 4 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................. 5 FIGURES AND TABLES ............................................................................................................................... 7 ISLAND MAPS .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Fork-tailed storm-petrel ....................................................................................................................... 10 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 11 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 15 Chick growth .................................................................................................................................. 19 Food habits .................................................................................................................................... 21 Leach’s storm-petrel ............................................................................................................................ 25 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 25 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 29 Chick growth .................................................................................................................................. 33 Food habits .................................................................................................................................... 35 All storm-petrels .................................................................................................................................... 39 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 39 Pelagic cormorant ................................................................................................................................. 45 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 45 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 49 Food habits .................................................................................................................................... 51 Common murre .................................................................................................................................... 53 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 53 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 56 Thick-billed murre ................................................................................................................................ 60 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 60 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 64 All murres ............................................................................................................................................. 68 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 68 Pigeon guillemot .................................................................................................................................. 77 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 77 Rhinoceros auklet ................................................................................................................................ 80 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 80 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 84 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 88 Chick growth .................................................................................................................................. 91 Food habits .................................................................................................................................... 93 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Tufted puffin ....................................................................................................................................... 102 Reproductive performance ........................................................................................................... 102 Populations .................................................................................................................................. 105 Glaucous-winged gull ........................................................................................................................ 109 Breeding chronology .................................................................................................................... 109 Reproductive performance ........................................................................................................... 112 Populations .................................................................................................................................. 116 Miscellaneous .................................................................................................................................... 119 Point counts (passerines)............................................................................................................. 119 COASST surveys ......................................................................................................................... 121 Beach oil surveys ........................................................................................................................ 123 Annotated list ............................................................................................................................... 124 Plants ........................................................................................................................................... 135 Sea surface temperature.............................................................................................................. 136 Phenological events ....................................................................................................................