Slender-billed Guillemot

A strange, mysterious little seabird. Although it is fairly common off the northern Pacific Coast, its nesting behavior was essentially unknown until the 1970s. In the Pacific Northwest, now known to nest high in trees in old-growth forest several miles inland from coast. Even where numerous, it is usually seen on the water in pairs or aggregations of pairs, not in large flocks; pairs flush from the water in front of approaching boats, fly away low with very rapid wingbeats.