Species Info

DOVEKIE

Interesting facts about the Dovekie

These tiny, black-and-white auks look like flying billiard balls with whirring wings, but they're expert swimmers that dive deeply to hunt zooplankton. They gather in large flocks in Arctic and North Atlantic waters, often around pack ice. Dovekies breed in huge colonies on rocky cliffs and may fly 60 miles to provision their chicks.

In Newfoundland, a colloquial name for Dovekie is “bull bird”, owing to its sturdy appearance (and despite its tiny size).

The Dovekie sometimes shows up out of range along the east coast of North America. This may happen when sustained, strong easterly winds make feeding conditions unsuitable and push the weakened birds landward.

They breed in the High Arctic, however, after the breeding season, Dovekies move southward toward the edges of the continental shelf, where upwelling nutrients support abundant prey. They are especially numerous in winter on the Grand Banks, the Labrador Shelf, and the Scotian Shelf, all east of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

Dovekies forage by diving underwater to capture small marine animals. They use their wings for propulsion and steer with their feet. In many cases, the birds can dive deeply (down to 100 feet), then capture prey one at a time as they ascend rapidly in a zig-zag pattern toward the surface. Dovekies may fly more than 60 miles to bring food back to chicks, carrying the prey in a specialized pouch in the throat.

Dovekies are gregarious birds throughout the year. Before the breeding season begins, they gather in the thousands. Dovekies appear to be monogamous in their mating system and both adults share incubation and chick-rearing duties. Subadult birds not yet old enough to breed often gather in small groups called “clubs” in the colonies. After the young have fledged, Dovekies gather into large flocks for the gradual southward migration toward wintering areas, where they remain in flocks all season.

IF YOU FIND A STRANDED DOVEKIE

These little seabirds are unable to fly once they are blown inland. They are awkward on land, as their legs are located further back on their bodies which helps when swimming and diving but not so much for walking! This can often times be mistaken for an injury. We need to act quickly with stranded Dovekies as they will starve or succumb to predators quickly if left inland.

The best way to help a Dovekie is to wear gloves when picking them up (so we don't disrupt the oils which help waterproof their feathers) and lay them in a small covered box. If the Dovekie is a good weight and shows no signs of injury, the best thing would be to leave him in a quiet dark area until nightfall, then get him back to the ocean ASAP! (these are nocturnal birds and will be killed by Gulls if spotted during the day).

IF the dovekie looks weak or underweight, has a visible injury or open wound - please get him to The Rock Wildlife Rescue or CPAWS as soon as possible. We will assess and do our best to rehabilitate for release.

REHABILITATING DOVEKIES - NOT SUCH AN EASY TASK!

These little Auks have high metabolisms, enormous energy needs and fast digestion. They also require specialized food - eating mostly small crustaceans and certain other plankton. In the wild they must dive down to 90 feet for food in the Arctic and North Atlantic. Dovekies will not eat out of a dish for us. Rehabbers must lavage fluids and force feed them. The fact is, that we only have a few days at most to get a Dovekie back out to the ocean. Often an ocean that still rough from the storm that blew them in!

When a Dovekie arrives at the Rescue, we know that waterproofing is key for these little birds and the only way they will survive is to get back into the ocean ASAP. When they are well fed, swimming, diving, preening and waterproof we release them at night into the ocean - with our fingers crossed, knowing we have done everything we can.