Black Guillemot
(Cepphus grylle)

Overview

Summary

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The Black Guillemot has a broad breeding distribution in Canada, from the Atlantic provinces to the High Arctic. No long-term monitoring data are available for the majority of this range. Although the species may have increased in abundance in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, its national status relative to about 1970 remains uncertain. Even the species' wintering distribution remains unclear, so threats throughout the year are difficult to assess. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• Birds of North America Online

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Because they forage for benthic fish in inshore areas, Black Guillemots may have a greater exposure to contaminants than more pelagic seabird species (Butler and Buckley 2002). However, adverse effects of contaminants have not been documented directly for this species in Canada.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Butler, R.G. and D.E. Buckley. 2002. Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Butler, R.G. and D.E. Buckley. 2002. Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)