Animalia Life
Plautus alle
TAXONOMY
Alle alle Linnaeus, 1758, Scotland. Two subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Little auk; French: Mergule nain; German: Krabbentaucher;
Spanish: Mйrgulo Atlбntico.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
7–8 in (17–20 cm); 4.6–6.7 oz (130–190 g). Small, chubby bird
with black head and neck, black upperparts, and white underparts.
Short black bill and blackish gray legs and feet.
DISTRIBUTION
The breeding territory includes all North Atlantic and Arctic
coastlines. Outside the breeding season, dovekies are scattered
far over the northern Atlantic; some winter amid the drifting ice.
HABITAT
Rocky coastlines and adjoining seas.
BEHAVIOR
Silent while at sea as an adult, although the young birds have a
high-pitched, peeping call. Adults give vent to a short, highpitched
trill while at breeding grounds.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Primarily small invertebrates and plankton.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Greenland and Spitsbergen have colonies of dovekies consisting
of thousands, possibly numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
Nesting occurs within stretches of shingle or in rock
clefts near the ocean, as well as at distances of from four to
eight kilometers inland on mountain slopes. The single chick
stays in the nest for approximately a month, after which it
reaches adult size.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
Photo Gallery of - Dovekie
