AMNWR 2015/13 BIOLOGICAL MONITORING AT CHOWIET ISLAND, ALASKA IN 2015 Emily L. Pollom, John P. Gorey, and Nora A. Rojek Key words: Aethia psittacula, Alaska Peninsula Unit, black-legged kittiwake, breeding chronology, Cerorhinca monocerata, Chowiet Island, common murre, food habits, Fratercula cirrhata, Fratercula corniculata, Fulmarus glacialis, glaucous-winged gull, horned puffin, Larus glaucescens, monitoring, northern fulmar, parakeet auklet, pelagic cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus, Phalacrocorax pelagicus, populations, productivity, red-faced cormorant, reproductive success, rhinoceros auklet, Rissa tridactyla, Semidi Islands, thick-billed murre, tufted puffin, Uria aalge, Uria lomvia U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge 95 Sterling Highway, Suite 1 Homer, AK 99603 November 2015 Cite as: Pollom, E. L., J. P. Gorey, and N. A. Rojek. 2015. Biological monitoring at Chowiet Island, Alaska in 2015. U.S. Fish and Wildl. Serv. Rep., AMNWR 2015/13. Homer, Alaska. <executibe ®rber S:imith lSLANOs WILD LIFE REF·UGE · ALASKA It is hereby ordered that .Aghiyuk Island, Chowiet Island; Kdeeirnk Island, Anowikisland;clilliktagik Island, Suklik Island, Aghik Island, Aliksemlit Island, and South. Island, together with all unnamed islands, rocks, and reefs, am all lands under water appurtenant thereto, lying between parallels 55° 57' and iKf 15' north latitude and meridians 156° 30'. and 157° 00' longitude west of Greemo:ich, in· the North Pacific Ocean southeast of the Alaska Peninsula, Alaska, IIUldi shown on United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart No. 8881, publiShed m WaShington, D.C., April, 1919, as within the Semidi Island Group, be, and the same are hereby, reserved from all forms of appropriation under the. public land ·!awl!' ~md set apart for the use of the Department of Agriculture as a refuge and breedmg ground for . wild birds and game and fur animals, subject to existing valid rights.. It is unlawful within this reservation (a) to hunt, trap, capture, wi!llfclly disturb, or kill any wild animal or bird of any kind whatever, to take or destroy the nests or eggs of any wild bird, to occupy or use any part of the reservet.ion, or to enter thereon for any purpose, except under •no.h rules and regulations as may be pre­ scribed by the Secretary -of Agriculture; (b) to cut, burn, or destroy my timber, underbrush, grass, or other natural growth; (c) willfully to leave fire or to suffer it to burn unattended near any forest, timber, or other inflammable materul; (d) after . building a fire in or near any forest, timber, or other inflammable m&terial, to leave it without totally extinguishing it; and (e) willfully to injure, molest, or destroy any property of the United States. Warning is given to all persons not to commit any of the acts J.er<in enumer­ ated, under the penalties prescribed by sections 106, 107, ·and 145 of rll£pter4, title 18, United States Code (35 Stat. 1088, 1098, and 43 Stat. 98), or by sretion 10 of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of Februa;zy 18, 1929 (45 Stat. 1222, 1224; U. S. Code, Supp. V, title 16, sec. 715i). This refuge shall be known as the Semidi JsLanes Wild Life Refuge. HERBERT HOOVER THE WHITE HousE, June 17, 198!J. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 1 STUDY AREA ............................................................................................................................................... 1 METHODS .................................................................................................................................................... 2 INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS ................................................................................................................ 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................................................ 5 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................. 6 ISLAND MAPS .............................................................................................................................................. 8 FIGURES AND TABLES ............................................................................................................................. 10 Northern fulmar ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 11 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 13 Red-faced cormorant ............................................................................................................................ 18 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 18 Pelagic cormorant ................................................................................................................................. 21 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 21 All cormorants ....................................................................................................................................... 24 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 24 Common murre ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 27 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 31 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 35 Food habits .................................................................................................................................... 39 Thick-billed murre ................................................................................................................................. 41 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 41 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 45 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 49 Food habits .................................................................................................................................... 53 All murres .............................................................................................................................................. 55 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 55 Parakeet auklet ..................................................................................................................................... 58 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 58 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 61 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 63 Rhinoceros auklet ................................................................................................................................. 67 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 67 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 70 Chick growth .................................................................................................................................. 75 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 76 Food habits .................................................................................................................................... 80 Horned puffin ........................................................................................................................................ 86 Breeding chronology ...................................................................................................................... 86 Reproductive performance ............................................................................................................. 89 Populations .................................................................................................................................... 91 Food